A linear elastic no-tension material model is implemented in this contribution to cope with the analysis of masonry-like solids in case of either elastic or inelastic settlements. Instead of implementing an incremental non-linear approach, an energy-based method is adopted to address the elastic no-tension equilibrium. Under a prescribed set of compatible loads, and possible enforced displacements, a solution is found by distributing an equivalent orthotropic material having negligible stiffness in tension, such that the overall strain energy is minimized and the stress tensor is negative semi-definite all over the domain. A preliminary implementation of the proposed method is given by adopting a heuristic approach to turn the multi-constrained minimization problem into an unconstrained one. Numerical simulations focus on a wall with an opening subjected to either inelastic settlement or standing on elastic soil.