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Privacy Policy
Effective Date: April 1, 2026 | Last Updated: April 1, 2026
Your privacy is critically important to us.
The LBT is hosted by the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL). This Privacy Policy applies to https://lbt.i2sl.org (hereinafter, "us", "we", "the LBT", “the website”, or "https://lbt.i2sl.org"). We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting personally identifiable information you may provide us through the website. We have adopted this privacy policy to explain what information may be collected on the website, how we use this information, and under what circumstances we may disclose the information to third parties.
This policy does not cover the AIM Report service, which is governed by its own Terms of Service.
Legal Basis for Processing
We collect and process personal information under the following legal bases:
- Contractual necessity: When you create an account or submit laboratory data, we process the information necessary to provide the benchmarking and scoring services you requested.
- Legitimate interest: We collect non-personally-identifiable information (such as browser type and usage patterns) to understand how visitors use our website and to improve the service. You may opt out of analytics tracking via the cookie preferences on this site.
- Consent: Where required by applicable law, we obtain your consent before placing non-essential cookies. You can manage your cookie preferences at any time through the cookie settings on this site. Any optional content I2SL distributes to its network of contacts contains a link to “unsubscribe” from the list.
Website Visitors
Like most website operators, the LBT collects non-personally-identifiable information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request. LBT's purpose in collecting non-personally identifiable information is to better understand how the LBT's visitors use its website. From time to time, the LBT may release non-personally-identifiable information in the aggregate, e.g., by publishing a report on trends in the usage of its website.
Cookies and Tracking Technologies
The LBT uses cookies and similar technologies to operate the website and analyze usage. We categorize cookies as follows:
- Essential cookies: Required for the website to function (e.g., session management, authentication). These cannot be disabled.
- Analytics cookies: We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with our website and to improve our offerings, including determining top tasks, improving our user interface, and diversifying our content offerings. Google Analytics collects information such as pages visited, time on site, and general geographic location derived from IP address.
When you first visit the site, a cookie consent banner allows you to accept all cookies or manage your cookie preferences (which allows you to decline non-essential cookies). You can change your cookie preferences at any time through the cookie settings link in the site footer. You may also prevent Google Analytics from collecting your information by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. Opting out in no way affects your access to content or how you see our website.
Gathering of Personally-Identifiable Information
Certain visitors to the LBT's websites choose to interact with the LBT in ways that require the LBT to gather personally-identifiable information. The amount and type of information that the LBT gathers depends on the nature of the interaction. For example, we ask visitors who sign up for an account to provide an email address.
Laboratory building information entered by registered users is stored in a secure database hosted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that is only accessible by technical staff responsible for the database and this website. Unless permission is granted by the data submitter or by an authorized representative of their organization, user-submitted laboratory data will only be used in an anonymized or aggregated fashion for research, program development, or benchmarking purposes. When users opt to use the AIM Report software for a building, that building's data will also be stored in a secure database hosted by I2SL; please see the AIM Report Terms of Service for more information.
I2SL may share laboratory and user email address data with others from within a registered user’s organization, where those parties have a legitimate interest in continuing to use the LBT to benchmark or analyze the submitted buildings, particularly in cases where the original submitter no longer works at the organization that owns or occupies the submitted buildings.
Third-Party Service Providers
We share personal information only with the following service providers, and only to the extent necessary to operate the LBT:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL): Hosts the primary database containing laboratory data. Access is restricted to technical staff responsible for the database and this website.
- Google (Google Analytics): Receives anonymized website usage data for analytics purposes. See Google's Privacy Policy for details.
- I2SL’s AIM Report software: Hosts the AIM Report database, which contains LBT user email addresses, and laboratory building data for the buildings on which AIM is used.
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party for marketing or commercial purposes. Additional information is provided in I2SL’s general Privacy Policy.
Data Retention
We retain personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy:
- Account data: Retained for as long as your account is active. If you request account deletion, your personal information will be removed within 30 days, except where retention is required by law or for legitimate research purposes in anonymized form.
- Laboratory data: Anonymized or aggregated laboratory data may be retained indefinitely for research and benchmarking purposes.
- Analytics data: Google Analytics data is retained in accordance with our Google Analytics configuration settings. IP addresses are anonymized.
Your Rights
Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:
- Right to access: You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Right to correction: You may request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
- Right to deletion: You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain legal exceptions.
- Right to opt out: You may opt out of non-essential data collection (such as analytics) through the cookie settings on this site.
- Right to data portability: Where technically feasible, you may request your data in a commonly used, machine-readable format.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at lbt@i2sl.org. We will respond to verified requests within 45 days. If we need additional time, we will notify you of the reason and extension period.
Security
We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:
- Encryption of data in transit using HTTPS/TLS and at rest in LBT
- Access controls restricting data access to authorized technical staff
- Hosting of databases on secure infrastructure by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and by I2SL
- Regular review of our data collection, storage, and processing practices
No method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
Children's Privacy
The LBT is not directed to children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information as promptly as possible. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at lbt@i2sl.org.
Privacy Policy Changes
Although most changes are likely to be minor, I2SL may change its Privacy Policy for LBT from time to time, and at I2SL’s sole discretion. When we make material changes to this policy, we will notify users by posting a notice on the website. The LBT encourages visitors to frequently check this page for any changes to its Privacy Policy. Your continued use of this site after any change in this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of such change.
Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us:
- Email: lbt@i2sl.org
- Mail: International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL), 2300 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 350, Arlington, VA 22201.