TERMS AND CONDITIONS

African Alliance for Sustainable Cities & Built Environments Website

20 October 2022

This page (together with the documents referred to in it) sets out the terms and conditions (“Terms & Conditions”) on which you may make use of the website at www.africaalliance.build (the “website”) whether as a guest or registered user.  Use of our website includes accessing, browsing or registering to use our site.  Please read these terms of use carefully before you start to use the website as these will apply to your use of the website.  We recommend that you print a copy of this for future reference.  Access and use by you of the website constitutes acceptance by you of these Terms & Conditions.  If you do not agree to these Terms & Conditions, please refrain from using the website.

These Terms & Conditions refer to the following additional terms, which also apply to your use of our website:

• Our Privacy Policy, which sets out the terms on which we process any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us. By using our website, you consent to such processing and you warrant that all data provided by you is accurate.
• Our Acceptable Use Policy, which sets out the permitted uses and prohibited uses of our site. When using our website, you must comply with this Acceptable Use Policy.
• Our Cookie Policy, which sets out information about the cookies on our site.

About us and the website

The website is a site operated by World Green Building Council, INC.(“WorldGBC”) a New York not-for-profit corporation, with its principal place of business at 7030 Woodbine Avenue, Suite 500, Markham Ontario L3R 6G2 Canada. These Terms & Conditions operate for the benefit of World Green Building Council. References to “we” “us” and “our” in these Terms & Conditions shall refer to World Green Building Council and its affiliated entities – make ref to regions.

Contact information

Woodbine Steeles Corporate Centre
7030 Woodbine Avenue, Suite 500
Markham Ontario
L3R 6G2 Canada

Email: office@worldgbc.org

Website changes

We may update the website from time to time and may change the content at any time. However, please note that any of the content on our website may be out of date at any given time and we are under no obligation to update it.

We do not guarantee that our website, or any content on it, will be free from errors or omissions.

Accessing the website

Our website is made available free of charge.

We do not guarantee that our website or any content on it will always be available or be uninterrupted.  Access to the website is permitted on a temporary basis, and we reserve the right to withdraw, suspend, discontinue, amend or change all or any part of our website without notice. We will not be liable if for any reason the website is unavailable at any time or for any period. From time to time, we may restrict access to some parts of the website, or the entire website, to users who have registered with us.

If you choose, or you are provided with, a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any third party. We have the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these Terms & Conditions.  If you know or suspect that anyone other than you knows your user identification code or password, you must promptly notify us at office@worldgbc.org.

You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to the website. You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access the website through your internet connection are aware of these Terms & Conditions and other applicable terms and conditions and that they comply with them.

Copyright and Intellectual Property Rights

World Green Building Council either owns or has the right to use or licence all intellectual property rights in the website, and the material published on it.

You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from the website to which you have access, for your personal use.  However, you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text.  You must not use any part of the materials on the website for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from World Green Building Council or its licensors.  The status of World Green Building Council (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of material on the website must always be acknowledged.

If you print off, copy or download any part of our site in breach of these terms of use, your right to use our site will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.

Additional restrictions may apply to restricted areas of the website. In particular, where any material posted in a restricted area of the website is marked “confidential” or should reasonably be deemed confidential you must respect and comply with the relevant duty of confidentiality.

Any names, images and logos identifying World Green Building Council are proprietary marks of World Green Building Council.  Copying of our logos or any other third party logos accessed via this website is not permitted without prior approval from us or the relevant licensor. Requests for permission to use the logos of World Green Building Council or third party logos should be emailed to office@worldgbc.org. Please ensure that you tell us how and why you wish to use the logo(s). Please include your contact details name, address, telephone number and email.

Uploading content to the website

Whenever you make use of a feature that allows you to upload content to the website, or make contact with other users of the website, you must comply with the standards set out in the Acceptable Use Policy and any other terms or guidelines applicable to that feature. You warrant and undertake to ensure that any such contribution does comply with those standards, is not defamatory, offensive or otherwise unlawful or inappropriate and does not infringe any third party’s privacy, intellectual property or other rights, and you indemnify us for any breach of that warranty and undertaking.  If you are a consumer user, this means you will be responsible for any loss or damage we suffer as a result of your breach of warranty.  We have the right to remove any material or posting you make on the website if, in our opinion, such material or post does not comply with the standards set out herein and in the Acceptable Use Policy or is otherwise (in our sole discretion) deemed not appropriate for the website.

Any content you upload to our website will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary, and we (and other users of the website) have the right to use, store, copy, distribute and disclose and make available to third parties any such material for any purpose.  We also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any content posted or uploaded by you to the website constitutes a violation of their intellectual property rights, or of their right to privacy.

World Green Building Council will not be responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any content posted by you or any other user of the website.  The views expressed by other users on our site do not represent our views or values.

If you have any concerns about material which appears on the website, please contact office@worldgbc.org

Hyperlinking to the website

You may link to our homepage, provided that you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it.  You must not establish a link in such a way or frame this website on any other website in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists.  You must not establish a link to our site in any website that is not owned by you.  Our website must not be framed on any other site, nor may you create a link to any part of our website other than the home page.  We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice.  The website in which you are linking must comply in all respects with the content standards set out in our Acceptable Use Policy.  If you wish to make any use of material on the website other than that set out above, please address your request to office@worldgbc.org.

Hyperlinks to other websites

Where the website contains links to other websites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. We have no control over the contents of those websites and resources, are not responsible for the content or reliability of those websites or resources, do not necessarily endorse any views expressed within them, and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.

Viruses, hacking and other offences

You must not misuse the website by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the website, the server on which the website is stored or any server, computer or database connected to the website. You must not attack the website via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-serve attack.  By breaching this provision you would commit a criminal offense under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.  We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them.  In the event of such a breach, your right to use our site will cease immediately.  We do not guarantee that our site will be secure or free from bugs and viruses.

You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and platform in order to access our site.  You should use your own virus protection software.

We cannot accept any responsibility for any loss, disruption or damage caused by a distributed denial of service attack, viruses or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other proprietary material due to your use of the website or your downloading of any content posted on it, or on any website linked to it.

Reliance and liability

The content on our website is provided for general information only.  It is not intended to amount to advice on which reliance should be placed.  You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our website.  Although we make reasonable efforts to update the information on our website, we make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on our website is accurate, complete or up-to-date.

Nothing in these terms of use excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, or our fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by United States or other applicable law.

To the extent permitted by law, we exclude all conditions, warranties, representations or other terms which may apply to our site or any content on it, whether express or implied.

We will not be liable to any user for any loss or damage, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, even if foreseeable, arising under or in connection with:

• use of, or inability to use, our website; or
• use of or reliance on any content displayed on our website.

If you are a business user, please note that in particular, we will not be liable for:

• loss of profits, sales, business, or revenue;
• business interruption;
• loss of anticipated savings;
• loss of business opportunity, goodwill or reputation; or
• any indirect or consequential loss or damage.

If you are a consumer user, please note that we only provide our website for domestic and private use.  You agree not to use our website for any commercial or business purposes, and we have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.

We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a virus, distributed denial-of-service attack, or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other proprietary material due to your use of our site or to your downloading of any content on it, or on any website linked to it.

We assume no responsibility for the content of websites linked on our website. Such links should not be interpreted as endorsement by us of those linked websites. We will not be liable for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.

Personal Information

By using the website, you consent to the processing of your information as set out in our Privacy Policy. Please note, where you decide to share any of your personal information on the website, World Green Building Council and its regions will not be responsible for any use of such information by other users of the website.

Changes

We may amend these Terms & Conditions at any time by amending this page.  Please check this page from time to time to notice of any changes we made as they are binding on you.

Law

These Terms & Conditions, their subject matter and formation are governed by the laws of the State of New York (USA), without regard to such jurisdiction’s choice of law principles.  You and we both agree that the courts of the State of New York (USA) will have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising under these Terms & Conditions.

If you are a business, these Terms & Conditions, their subject matter and formation (and any non-contractual disputes or claims) are governed by State of New York (USA) law.  We both agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Netherlands.

Acceptable Use Policy

This acceptable use policy sets out the terms between you and us under which you may access our website www.africaalliance.build (our site). This acceptable use policy applies to all users of, and visitors to, our site.

Your use of our site means that you accept, and agree to abide by, all the policies in this acceptable use policy, which supplement our terms of website use.

www.africaalliance.build is a site operated by World Green Building Council, INC. (we or us) a New York not-for-profit corporation, with its principal place of business at 7030 Woodbine Avenue, Suite 500, Markham Ontario L3R 6G2 Canada.

Prohibited uses

You may use our site only for lawful purposes.  You may not use our site:

• In any way that breaches any applicable local, national or international law or regulation.
• In any way that is unlawful or fraudulent or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect.
• For the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors in any way.
• To send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or reuse any material which does not comply with our content standards.
• To transmit, or procure the sending of, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation (spam).
• To knowingly transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware.
• To upload or send personal data about another person including but not limited to names and contact details, or sensitive personal information about, for example, their religious or political beliefs or health.
• To upload or send information which you regard as confidential or private through the site; any information which you upload or send will be regarded as non-confidential and non-proprietary.

You also agree:

• Not to reproduce, duplicate, copy or re-sell any part of our site in contravention of the provisions of our terms of website use.
• Not to access without authority, interfere with, damage or disrupt:
• any part of our site;
• any equipment or network on which our site is stored;
• any software used in the provision of our site; or
• any equipment or network or software owned or used by any third party.

Interactive services

We may from time to time provide interactive services on our site, including, without limitation:

• Chat rooms
• Bulletin boards
• File sharing
• Discussion forums
• Messaging
• Polls
• Etc

Where we do provide any interactive service, we will provide clear information to you about the kind of service offered, if it is moderated and what form of moderation is used (including whether it is human or technical).

We will do our best to assess any possible risks for users (and in particular, for children) from third parties when they use any interactive service provided on our site, and we will decide in each case whether it is appropriate to use moderation of the relevant service (including what kind of moderation to use) in the light of those risks. However, we are under no obligation to oversee, monitor or moderate any interactive service we provide on our site, and we expressly exclude our liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of any interactive service by a user in contravention of our content standards, whether the service is moderated or not.

The use of any of our interactive services by a minor is subject to the consent of their parent or guardian. We advise parents who permit their children to use an interactive service that it is important that they communicate with their children about their safety online, as moderation is not foolproof. Minors who are using any interactive service should be made aware of the potential risks to them.

Where we do moderate an interactive service, we will normally provide you with a means of contacting the moderator, should a concern or difficulty arise.

Content standards

These content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to our site (contributions), and to any interactive services associated with it.

You must comply with the spirit and the letter of the following standards. The standards apply to each part of any contribution as well as to its whole.

Contributions must:

• Be accurate (where they state facts).
• Be genuinely held (where they state opinions).
• Comply with applicable law in the United States and in any country from which they are posted.

Contributions must not:

• Contain any material which is defamatory of any person.
• Contain any material which is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory.
• Promote sexually explicit material.
• Promote violence.
• Promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age.
• Infringe any copyright, database right or trade mark of any other person.
• Be likely to deceive any person.
• Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
• Promote any illegal activity.
• Be threatening, abuse or invade another’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
• Be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person.
• Be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person.
• Give the impression that they emanate from us, if this is not the case.
• Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.

Suspension and termination

We will determine, in our discretion, whether there has been a breach of this acceptable use policy through your use of our site.  When a breach of this policy has occurred, we may take such action as we deem appropriate.

Failure to comply with this acceptable use policy constitutes a material breach of the terms of use upon which you are permitted to use our site, and may result in our taking all or any of the following actions:

• Immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use our site.
• Immediate, temporary or permanent removal of any posting or material uploaded by you to our site.
• Issue of a warning to you.
• Legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach.
• Further legal action against you.
• Disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary.

We exclude liability for actions taken in response to breaches of this acceptable use policy.  The responses described in this policy are not limited, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.

Changes to the acceptable use policy

We may revise this acceptable use policy at any time by amending this page. You are expected to check this page from time to time to take notice of any changes we make, as they are legally binding on you. Some of the provisions contained in this acceptable use policy may also be superseded by provisions or notices published elsewhere on our site.

Cookie Policy

What are cookies?

As is common practice with almost all professional websites, this site uses cookies, which are tiny files that are downloaded to your computer to improve your experience. This page describes what information they gather, how we use it and why we sometimes need to store these cookies. We will also share how you can prevent these cookies from being stored, however this may downgrade or ‘break’ certain elements of the site’s functionality.

How we use cookies

We use cookies for a variety of reasons detailed below. Unfortunately, in most cases there are no industry standard options for disabling cookies without completely disabling the functionality and features they add to this site. It is recommended that you leave on all cookies if you are not sure whether you need them or not in case they are used to provide a service that you use.

Disabling cookies

You can prevent the setting of cookies by adjusting the settings on your browser (see your browser Help for how to do this). Be aware that disabling cookies will affect the functionality of this and many other websites that you visit. Disabling cookies will usually result in also disabling certain functionality and features of this site. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not disable cookies.

The cookies we set

This site offers email subscription services and cookies may be used to remember if you are already registered and whether to show certain notifications which might only be valid to subscribed/unsubscribed users.

From time to time we may offer user surveys and questionnaires to provide you with interesting insights, helpful tools, or to understand our user base more accurately. These surveys may use cookies to remember who has already taken part in a survey or to provide you with accurate results after you change pages.

When you submit data through a form, such as those found on contact pages or comment forms, cookies may be set to remember your user details for future correspondence.

Third party cookies

In some special cases we also use cookies provided by trusted third parties. The following section details which third party cookies you might encounter through this site.

This site uses Google Analytics which is one of the most widespread and trusted analytics solution on the web for helping us to understand how you use the site and ways that we can improve your experience. These cookies may track things such as how long you spend on the site and the pages that you visit so we can continue to produce engaging content.

For more information on Google Analytics cookies, see the official Google Analytics page.

Third party analytics are used to track and measure usage of this site so that we can continue to produce engaging content. These cookies may track things such as how long you spend on the site or pages you visit which helps us to understand how we can improve the site for you.

From time to time, we test new features and make subtle changes to the way that the site is delivered. When we are still testing new features, these cookies may be used to ensure that you receive a consistent experience whilst on the site whilst ensuring we understand which optimisations our users appreciate the most.

We use social media buttons and/or plugins on this site that allow you to connect with your social network in various ways. For these to work, the following social media sites including; Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, will set cookies through our site which may be used to enhance your profile on their site or contribute to the data they hold for various purposes outlined in their respective privacy policies.

More information

For more information, contact us at office@worldgbc.org

Privacy Policy

This page exists to explain how we may use your personal data, as members, sponsors, partners and service providers of WorldGBC.

If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy, please contact, office@worldgbc.org, or at our postal address: World Green Building Council, at 7030 Woodbine Avenue, Suite 500, Markham Ontario L3R 6G2 Canada.

What is the World Green Building Council?

The World Green Building Council (‘WorldGBC’, ‘our’, ‘we’ or ‘us’) is a global network of Green Building Councils in over 70 countries which is transforming the places we live, work, play and learn. Buildings are diverse and beautiful, but they must also be sustainable. We believe green buildings can and must be at the centre of our lives. Our changing climate means we must reshape the way we grow and build. Our mission is to create green buildings for everyone, everywhere – enabling people to thrive both today and tomorrow. By taking action, we champion local and global leadership. We empower our community to drive change. We are greater than the sum of our parts, and commit to green buildings for everyone, everywhere.

The aim of the African Alliance for Sustainable Cities and Built Environments, led by WorldGBC’s Africa Regional Network, is to provide a resource for SMEs to deliver the sustainable cities and built environment solutions that Africa deserves and needs.

How is the information collected by us?

Members, Sponsors, Partners and Service Providers

Most of our contact data is made up of employees of our member organisations; partners, sponsors and service providers, collected in the first instance via the application form on joining WorldGBC in any of those capabilities. We also send out regular ‘contact update’ forms to our primary contacts at our member, sponsors, partners and services provider organisations. This data is volunteered by our primary contacts as individuals who may wish to receive WorldGBC member, sponsors and partners benefits – news, event invitations and learning and networking opportunities. We may also obtain the contact details of individuals that work for our member, partners, sponsors or service providers organisations via event booking pages, various webforms and email sign-ups.

Non-Members

Sometimes we may obtain the personal data of individuals outside of our member, partners, sponsors and service providers network, for several reasons:

• Working on projects with stakeholders outside of the membership, partnership, or sponsorship
• It may be given to us at events or trade shows where the individual has expressed an interest in joining WorldGBC or future collaboration
• It may be obtained from the public domain as a prospective WorldGBC member, partners, sponsor or service provider
• It may be volunteered to us by existing members, partners sponsors or service providers
• Sometimes non-WorldGBC members may volunteer their data via webforms, booking pages, email sign-ups etc.

What type of information is collected from you?

The personal information we collect might include your name, job title, business email address, business address and business telephone numbers. We also collect information on ways in which you have interacted with WorldGBC, for instance email content, email opens and click throughs, event attendance, participations on meetings, etc. Job applicants’ personal data collected would be consistent with recruitment norms, for instance personal address, telephone numbers, email addresses, curriculum vitae etc.

How is your information used?

We may use your information to:

• To carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into by you and us, ie. on delivery of our member benefits, billing etc.
• To assess how engaged our member organisations are
• To notify you of changes to our services
• To send you communications which you have requested and that may be of interest or are related to your work
• To promote our events, meetings, and work
• To process a job application
• To communicate to existing employees on work matters

We will never retain personal information beyond what is necessary to deliver relevant activity or as long as is set out in any relevant contracts between us. We are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory obligations.

Who do we share information with?

We will never share personal information with a third party for the purposes of marketing unless given prior consent.

We do share personal information with some third parties in the process of providing our services, for instance with some members, agents, IT providers and other subcontractors. Some of these parties may be outside of the European Union (EU) in which cases they are not subject to the same high legislation standards as inside the EU. By submitting personal data to us, you are agreeing to its processing by these parties. However, steps will be taken by WorldGBC to ensure that the same standards of privacy are adhered to, equal to those outlined in this document.

What are your choices?

On collection of your personal data via any of the aforementioned means, we will always give you the option to choose whether you receive information from us about our activity, industry news, event invitations etc. You also have the right to opt out of communications or have your personal information deleted from our records at any time, unless we have a legal obligation to retain it. This can be done via info@worldgbc.org or our postal address: World Green Building Council, 7030 Woodbine Avenue, Suite 500, Markham Ontario L3R 6G2 Canada.

How can you update your information?

We regularly contact our members to ensure we are holding accurate information, but you can also contact us at any time to update us. You have the right to request any information we hold about you. Again, please contact office@worldgbc.org or via our postal address: World Green Building Council, 7030 Woodbine Avenue, Suite 500, Markham Ontario L3R 6G2 Canada.

Security

We will always ensure that your information is kept secure and all electronic data – email accounts, databases and devices are protected by regularly updated passwords. Some non-sensitive data is transmitted over the internet and is outside of our control (emails for instance) for which we can never guarantee complete security. We never ask you to share your password.

Data Profiling

We may analyse your personal data to assess your interactions with us or to help us identify areas of our work that may be of specific interest to you. You may receive communications from us based on these analytics.

Use of ‘cookies’

A cookie is a text-only string of information that a website transfers to the cookie file of your computer’s hard disk so that the website can recognise your computer. A cookie will typically contain the name of the domain from which the cookie has come, the “lifetime” of the cookie, and a value, usually a randomly generated unique number. When you visit our website, we send you a cookie.

We use cookies to ensure that you receive the best experience from our website, to recognise that you are a repeat visitor and to ensure that all areas of our website work for you. If you continue without changing your cookie settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive the cookies that we use. You may change your cookie settings at any time but if you choose to do so, some elements of our website will not work correctly.

Links

Our website may contain links to other organisations’ sites. We have no control over how your data is used by these organisations, so we would urge you to look at their own privacy statements if you have any concerns.