Bemcyclopedia:General disclaimer
Terms of Use and Disclaimers
BEMcyclopedia is an online open-content collaborative project; that is, a voluntary association of individuals and groups working to develop a common resource of building energy modeling (BEM) knowledge. The structure of the project allows anyone with an Internet connection to alter its content. Please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by people with the expertise required to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information.
That is not to say that you will not find valuable and accurate information in BEMcyclopedia; much of the time you will. However, The Regents of the University of California (manager and operator of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy) cannot guarantee the validity of the information found here The content of any given article may recently have been changed, vandalized or altered by someone whose opinion does not correspond with the state of knowledge in the relevant fields. Note that most other encyclopedias and reference works also have disclaimers.
Disclaimers
This website and related content were prepared as an account of or to expedite work sponsored at least in part by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Building Technology, State and Community Programs, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 with The Regents of the University of California for the management and operation of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. While we strive to provide correct information, neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor The Regents of the University of California, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights.
Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by its trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof, or The Regents of the University of California. Use of the Laboratory or University’s name for endorsements is prohibited.
The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof or The Regents of the University of California. Neither Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory nor its employees are agents of the US Government.
No formal peer review
Our active community of editors uses tools such as the Special:RecentChanges and Special:NewPages feeds to monitor new and changing content. However, BEMcyclopedia is not uniformly peer reviewed; while readers may correct errors or engage in casual peer review, they have no legal duty to do so and thus all information read here is without any implied warranty of fitness for any purpose or use whatsoever. Even articles that have been vetted by informal peer review processes may later have been edited inappropriately, just before you view them.
Copyright
Content on BEMcyclopedia created by employees of or owned by The Regents of the University of California is copyright 2021 and/or the year of its creation The Regents of the University of California. Because of the nature of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Prime Contract between The Regents of the University of California and the US Department of Energy, the US Government is granted for itself and others acting on its behalf a paid-up, nonexclusive, irrevocable worldwide license to reproduce, prepare derivative works, and perform publicly and display publicly by or on behalf of the Government for all information produced under the Prime Contract, subject to its provisions.
Licensing of content
Content on BEMcyclopedia is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC BY-SA).
All users editing or otherwise contributing to BEMcyclopedia license agree to grant broad permissions to the general public to re-distribute and re-use their contributions freely for any purpose, in accordance with the CC BY-SA license. Such use is allowed where attribution is given and the same freedom to re-use and re-distribute applies to any derivative works of the contributions.
By editing or otherwise contributing to BEMcyclopedia, you agree to license any content you change or contribute under the CC BY-SA license.
In all cases, you are solely responsible for all content, including but not limited to text, photos, and other content that you upload, publish, or display (hereinafter, “submit”) on or through BEMcyclopedia. You may not submit content to BEMcyclopedia that you did not create or that you do not have the right to submit. You may not submit content that is not compatible with the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC BY-SA). You understand and agree that others may, but are not obligated to, edit, delete, or remove (without notice) any content from the BEMcyclopedia, for any reason or no reason. You also represent and warrant that you own or have the necessary licenses, rights, releases, consents, and permissions to permit the BEMcyclopdia to copy, store, publish, display, and distribute your content via BEMcyclopedia, in accordance with the CC-BY-SA license.
Trademarks
Any of the trademarks, service marks, collective marks, design rights or similar rights that are mentioned, used or cited in the articles of the BEMcyclopedia wiki are the property of their respective owners. Their use here does not imply that you may use them for any purpose other than for the same or a similar informational use as contemplated by the original authors of these BEMcyclopedia articles under the CC-BY-SA and GFDL licensing schemes. Unless otherwise stated BEMcyclopedia site is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with any of the holders of any such rights and as such BEMcyclopedia cannot grant any rights to use any otherwise protected materials. Your use of any such or similar incorporeal property is at your own risk.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Policy
If you assert ownership over any materials found on BEMcyclopedia and wish for them to be removed or modified, or if you wish to file a DMCA complaint or takedown notice, please contact admin@bemcyclopedia.com. Under the DMCA, the BEMcyclopedia is required to name a DMCA agent. Contact information for our agent is available here.
Not professional advice
If you need specific advice (for architectural, engineering, and other specialty aspects of building design), please seek a professional who is licensed or knowledgeable in that area.
External links
Some links within this website may lead to other websites, including those operated and maintained by third parties. BEMcyclopedia includes these links solely as a convenience to you, and the presence of such a link does not imply a responsibility for the linked site or an endorsement of the linked site, its operator, or its contents.
Governing Law
THIS AGREEMENT WILL BE INTERPRETED AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, without reference to its conflicts of law principles.