Past Winner
2021 NSERC Synergy Awards for Innovation

Professor Pierre Blanchet is considered the foremost innovator in Canada’s wood-construction industry. Through his many discoveries, he has contributed to the deployment of biosourced materials in this industry and hence to the reduction of its environmental footprint. He holds the NSERC Industrial Research Chair on Eco-responsible Wood Construction (CIRCERB), the most important initiative of its kind in Canada. Blanchet works with 22 partners in a multidisciplinary approach that combines all areas of expertise in the building field. Through the Industrial Research Partnership for Eco-responsible Wood Construction, these partners play a central role as consultants, directors, participants and trainers in the Chair’s varied activities.

Through its extensive connections with industrial companies and government agencies, the Partnership’s work covers the entire value-creation chain, from designing biosourced materials to operating buildings. This is a unique vision of research in the building sector. Blanchet and his team’s past achievements include inventing an innovative connector for modular construction (recently patented in North America) and a non-toxic process for protecting wood. Blanchet has contributed to the development of policies such as the Wood Charter in Quebec and serves as an evaluator for provincial and federal initiatives. He dedicates a large portion of his budget to scholarships and salaries for the students who work with him, because he considers training them a top priority.

For additional information or to request photos of NSERC Prize winners, please contact Media Relations.