Academic Recognition: Rebecca Holbach Wins Second Prize in the Bürgerdienst Lepper e.V. Competition
We are pleased to announce that Rebecca Holbach, a PhD student in in Wood and Bio-based Materials Engineering under the supervision of Professor Bertrand Laratte, won the second prize (€750) at the annual project competition organized by the Bürgerdienst Lepper e.V. association, held on September 27, 2025.
For several years, this association, funded by a regional company and private donations, has actively supported students through a scholarship program. Beyond financial support, it aims to highlight their research and foster innovation. Every September, it organizes a competition that gives scholarship recipients the opportunity to present their work before a panel of professionals, including representatives from the company Technisat. This event showcases the quality of the projects, encourages exchanges between academia and industry, and strengthens opportunities for students to stand out and advance in their careers.
This year, the jury honored Rebecca Holbach for the quality of her presentation “Building Without Waste? — Perspectives for a Circular Economy in the Construction Sector of Tomorrow” as well as for the scientific and societal relevance of her project. This distinction highlights not only her academic commitment but also the value of the work she is carrying out as part of her PhD under the supervision of Professor Laratte.
Her research project, entitled “Designing a Circular Economy Model for the Forest–Wood–Construction Sector: Developing a Roadmap for Its Implementation in Quebec”, aims to propose an innovative circularity model for the entire sector. During the competition, Rebecca presented both the specific context of the city of Quebec and the research framework of Université Laval. She explained the main principles of the circular economy, supported by revealing data: a circularity rate of 6.9% globally and only 3.5% in Quebec (2021), highlighting significant room for improvement. She also illustrated her approach by applying the “10R” strategies to the theoretical example of a small construction redesigned according to these principles.
The central objective of her thesis is to develop a concrete roadmap to enhance circularity in the construction sector. This framework, initially designed to address Quebec’s specific context, incorporates international inspirations to enable, in the long term, its broader adoption and development worldwide.
His work is funded under the Alliance Society grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), as part of the project « The Building as a Tool for GHG Reduction in Canada », led by the Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Buildings (CIRCERB).
This project is funded through the Alliance Society grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), as part of the project entitled « Buildings as a Tool for Reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions ». The project is led by the Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Buildings (CIRCERB) at Université Laval, under the direction of Professor Pierre Blanchet.
👏Congratulations to Rebecca Holbach for this recognition, which reflects her talent, determination, and promising contribution to the future of sustainable construction.