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Privacy Policy

Last updated October 26th, 2022

What this policy covers

BuildingGreen, Inc. values your privacy. This notice describes what information we collect and how we use it.

To Users Resident in the European Economic Area:  This Privacy Policy will govern use of your personal information if you choose to use any of the BuildingGreen online content and services, including, but not limited to, BuildingGreen.com and LEEDuser.  However, your specific rights as European Union data subjects (“EU Data Rights”) are addressed below in the section titled, “Privacy Rights of Users in the European Economic Area (EEA)".

Key points

We collect only information that you provide us through activity on our website or via email or other communication, in order to improve our services. We will not disclose your information to any third party, except for the specific purposes outlined below, and never for sales or marketing purposes.

Information we collect

We use a third-party service that employs "cookies," which are text files placed on your computer. When you visit, search, or navigate our website, we may automatically collect the following information: your domain name; your browser type and operating system; your device type; pages you view on our website; links you click on our website; your IP address; the length of time you visit our site; and the referring URL, or how you got to our site. Especially when you first arrive at our site, this information may be anonymous; at other times, especially when you sign in, this information may be associated with your name and account information.

To help us make emails more useful and interesting, we often receive a confirmation when you open email from us and click links. We might also receive information about you from other sources and add it to our account information. An example of this might be an updated mailing address from a delivery service.

Registration Information

We will collect personally identifiable information from you when you register for any BuildingGreen subscription sites, interact with our online content, update your profile, interact with other users, and/or use various features of our websites. By signing up, you give us permission to store and display user information you have provided in order to provide the best possible experience on BuildingGreen’s online resources. When you make a purchase on our website, we will automatically enroll you to receive email messages about updates in green design and construction, and occasionally, promotions and offers from BuildingGreen. We will never share your email address with third parties and you can unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time.  

Information you provide to us in Public Forums

Please remember that any information you disclose while participating on public e-mail services, chat areas, messaging or communication tools, or other interactive forums accessed through BuildingGreen.com, which are designed to facilitate your communication with others or post content on the Sites (“Communication Services”), becomes public information, becomes the property of, and is subject to redistribution by BuildingGreen, Inc. Public forums include those that are accessible by any visitor to our websites and those that are restricted to those who have paid for access to premium services.

You should exercise caution and discretion when deciding to disclose your personal information in a submission or posting.  There is no expectation of privacy when posting, or otherwise participating on the Communication Services to protect the integrity of BuildingGreen.com and meet our obligations under applicable laws. If you post content, such as messages, photos, and videos please be aware that any personally identifiable information contained in such content is accessible to registered users to that BuildingGreen online service, and we have no control over how those users may use your personally identifiable information.  We have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor any activity and content associated with the Communication Services. We reserve the right to take action in connection with any content we deem to be inappropriate. Please review our Terms of Use for more information regarding your appropriate use of these areas.

Information you provide on our Private Forums

Please remember that any information you disclose while participating on private  forums accessed through BuildingGreen.com, which are designed to facilitate your communication with others in that group is private to that group. If you post content, such as messages, photos, and videos please be aware that any personally identifiable information contained in such content is accessible to registered users to that private group. We request that members of a private group refrain from distributing public information shared in that group, but we have no direct control over how those users may use your personally identifiable information. BuildingGreen will use best practices to ensure that only members of the associated private group have access to the information you post, but cannot guarantee unauthorized access.

Can I opt-out?

You may refuse to accept cookies, or remove them at any time, by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. This will limit our collecting of information. However, key features of our websites, such as signing in, rely on cookies, and our websites won’t function optimally if you refuse them. Either way, when you visit our websites you consent to the processing of data about you in the manner and for the purposes set out in this policy.

You may remove your information from our database so as to not receive future communications, or to close your account, by emailing us at privacy@buildinggreen.com or sending snail mail (certified mail, return receipt requested is recommended) to the following address:

BuildingGreen, Inc.
122 Birge Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301

Attention:  Customer Service

If you prefer not to receive electronic promotional communications, you can opt-out by following the unsubscribe instructions included in each communication.

Information we disclose

We will never disclose your personal information to any third party for sales or marketing purposes.

When we do disclose your information to third parties will be for one of the following purposes:

  • To comply with a judge’s order.

  • To have an analytics service that we hire, process the information on BuildingGreen’s behalf, in which case that service would be bound to keep your information private.

  • To provide you with content and services, such as reporting continuing education units to credentialing organizations, or providing you access to content on third-party platforms. BuildingGreen is very selective about who we partner with to provide such services, but you should also review the privacy policies of those groups when you sign on with them.

At times we share aggregated information with the public or specific third parties. As an example, we have published blog posts discussing our ten most popular articles based on aggregate website traffic. No personally identifiable information is shared in a situation like this.

A Note to Users Who Are EU Data Subjects:  Notwithstanding the previous paragraph, your rights related to your personal information processed by us, and our use and retention of your personal information, are subject to your EU Data Rights as described in this Privacy Policy.

Data Protection Rights

Data protection laws give certain individuals rights regarding their Personal Information.  These rights may include the following (for example, if you are located in the EEA or are a consumer user that is a California resident): 

Users in the European Economic Area (EEA)

Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (“GDPR”), effective as of May 25, 2018, European Union data subjects are entitled to certain specific rights with respect to processing of their personal data.

Under the GDPR, in certain circumstances, you have the right to:

  • Request access to your personal information;

  • Request the correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information;

  • Request that your personal information be erased;

  • Object to the processing of your personal information, including processing for direct marketing purposes;

  • Request that the processing of your personal information be restricted;

  • Request that you receive your personal information in order to transfer it to another data controller;

  • Withdraw at any time your consent to the use of your personal information;

  • Make a complaint to an EU Data Protection Authority where you believe that we have not complied with our obligations under this Privacy Policy or applicable European data protection law (including the GDPR); and

  • We will not transfer your personal information to third parties located outside of the EEA without taking steps to ensure adequate protection under the GDPR.  If a third party is located in a country not recognized by the EU Commission as providing an adequate level of protection, we will use appropriate measures, such as entering into standard contractual clauses, approved by the EU Commission, to protect your personal information.

You may exercise any of the above rights by contacting us at privacy@buildinggreen.com.

California Residents

You may have the right to access the Personal Information that we have relating to you, this includes the right to request what Personal Information is collected or disclosed for a business purpose. If you wish to access (in a portable format), correct, update, or request deletion of your Personal Information that you can not access directly on the BuildingGreen website, you can do so at any time by emailing us using privacy@buildinggreen.com. 

We do not sell the personal information of our consumer users.

How we use this information

Our goal is to make our website as useful as possible to you. Understanding how our site is used is critical to us in assessing which content is working for you and how to improve your experience. In addition to informing overall website design and content development, we may use the information that you provide for responding to your requests, processing orders you place with us, or otherwise supporting your experience as a user and/or customer.

How long we store your information

Unless we have deleted your information in accordance with your request pursuant to this Privacy Policy, we will retain your information for so long as your account is active or as needed to provide you any of the services.  If you wish to cancel your account or request that we no longer use your information, please email us at privacy@buildinggreen.com. However, we will retain and use your information to the extent necessary to comply with applicable laws, resolve disputes, or enforce our contractual rights.

Securing information

We have implemented commercially reasonable precautions, including, where appropriate, encryption, SSL, firewalls, and internal restrictions on who may access data to protect the information we collect from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. Please be aware that despite our best efforts, no data security measures can guarantee 100% security.

BuildingGreen does not retain credit card numbers used to purchase our products and services.

Changes to this policy

We reserve the right to revise this policy. If this policy changes, we will notify all subscribed customers and post to the website. Any modification is effective immediately.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the practices of BuildingGreen, Inc., please send your email queries to privacy@buildinggreen.com

Contact:

BuildingGreen, Inc.
122 Birge Street, Suite 30
Brattleboro, Vermont 05301

USA

+1 802-257-7300
privacy@buildinggreen.com

Please also see our terms and conditions.