Glossary

This glossary explains the key terms used throughout CO2 Asset Management in plain, everyday language. For technical/developer terminology, see the Developer Glossary.

Location Terms

These terms describe where things are in your property portfolio.

Estate

What it means: Your entire property portfolio - all the buildings and sites you manage under one umbrella.

In practice: Think of it as a folder that contains everything. Most organizations have one Estate. You only need multiple Estates if you manage completely separate portfolios with no overlap (e.g., different business units).

Examples:

“Acme Corporation Properties”
“NHS Trust Buildings”
“City Council Estate”

Site

What it means: A single physical location - typically one building or one address.

In practice: A Site is one pin on a map. It has an address, GPS coordinates, and contains one or more Buildings.

Examples:

“London Headquarters” (52 Victoria Street)
“Manchester Warehouse” (Industrial Park, Unit 7)
“Edinburgh Branch Office”

How it fits: Estate → Site → Building → Floor

Building

What it means: A physical structure at a Site - something you could walk around.

In practice: A Building sits within a Site. It has floors, and you upload floor plans for each floor.

Examples:

“Main Building”
“Annex”
“Multi-Storey Car Park”

Floor Plan

What it means: An image of a building floor that you can place assets on.

In practice: You upload a floor plan image (JPG, PNG, PDF), then drag assets onto it. The floor plan becomes an interactive blueprint showing where everything is located.

Examples:

“Ground Floor”
“First Floor”
“Basement / Plant Room”
“Roof Level”

Room

What it means: A defined space on a floor plan where assets can be grouped.

In practice: You draw room boundaries on floor plans to organize assets. Rooms are optional - you can place assets directly on floor plans without defining rooms.

Examples:

“Server Room”
“Reception”
“Conference Room A”
“Kitchen”

Boundary

What it means: A shape drawn on a floor plan that defines an area.

In practice: Boundaries can represent rooms, zones, or any area you want to track. They help organize assets and can be used for reporting (e.g., “all assets in the east wing”).

Examples:

Room boundaries
Safety zones
Service areas
Departmental zones

Asset Terms

These terms describe what you’re tracking.

Asset

What it means: A specific physical item you’re tracking - one piece of equipment in one location.

In practice: An Asset is the actual thing in your building. It has a location (where on the floor plan), specifications (what kind of equipment), and history (when installed, maintenance records).

Examples:

“HVAC Unit #47 in the server room”
“Fire extinguisher by the main entrance”
“Boiler in basement plant room”
“LED panel light in Conference Room A”

Key characteristics:

Has a specific location
Has specifications (inherited from its Listing)
Has an identity (serial number, asset tag)
Has a history (installation date, maintenance)

Listing

What it means: A template or product specification - the “type” of asset, not a specific instance.

In practice: A Listing is like a product from a catalogue. When you drag a Listing onto a floor plan, you create an Asset. The Asset inherits all the specifications from the Listing.

Examples:

“5kg CO2 Fire Extinguisher” (the product type)
“Model XYZ Condensing Boiler, 25kW” (a specific product model)
“LED Panel Light, 40W” (a type of light fixture)

The relationship:

Listing (Template) → drag onto floor plan → Asset (Instance)

You can create many Assets from the same Listing - each one is tracked independently.

Catalogue

What it means: A collection of Listings organized by category - like a product library.

In practice: Catalogues group related Listings so you can find what you need. You browse a Catalogue, find the right Listing, and drag it onto a floor plan.

Examples:

“Fire Safety Equipment” (extinguishers, alarms, detectors)
“HVAC Systems” (boilers, AC units, heat pumps)
“Lighting” (panels, fixtures, controls)

Types of Catalogues:

Global - Available to everyone (standard equipment types)
Estate-specific - Custom catalogues for your organization
Supplier-specific - Products from a particular vendor

Data Profile

What it means: A published, versioned bundle of field definitions that a Catalogue binds to. It decides which typed fields every Listing in that Catalogue carries.

In practice: Before a Catalogue can hold Listings it needs a data-profile target. The profile says which fields (from a field library), whether each is required, and how it is shown. Listings and Assets pin the exact profile version they were created against, so publishing a newer version never changes existing records until you migrate them.

Examples:

“HVAC plant baseline v1” (power rating, refrigerant type, install date)
“Fire safety v2” (extinguisher class, service due date, certification)

Related terms: Field library (the reusable fields a profile picks from), Classification and Standards (chosen per Listing, independently of the profile).

See Data Profiles for the full guide.

Drawing Terms

These terms describe how you work with floor plans.

Layer

What it means: A transparent overlay on a floor plan where you place assets and annotations.

In practice: Layers let you organize different types of content. Assets might be on one layer, annotations on another. You can show or hide layers to focus on what matters.

Examples:

“HVAC Layer” (all heating/cooling equipment)
“Electrical Layer” (power outlets, switches, panels)
“Fire Safety Layer” (extinguishers, alarms, exit signs)

Drawing

What it means: The combination of a floor plan image with layers, assets, and annotations.

In practice: When you upload a floor plan and start adding content, you’re creating a Drawing. A Drawing is the complete, interactive representation of a floor.

Topology

What it means: The overall spatial structure of your site - buildings, floors, rooms, and their relationships.

In practice: Topology is how the system understands “where things are.” It connects buildings to floors, floors to rooms, and lets you place assets in the right locations.

Why it matters:

Enables accurate asset tracking (“This boiler is in Building A, Floor 2, Plant Room”)
Supports work orders (“Show me all assets in the east wing”)
Powers carbon calculations (“What’s the energy use in this building?”)

Change Management Terms

These terms describe how you plan and track changes.

Proposal

What it means: A planned change to your assets - equipment you want to add, replace, or remove.

In practice: Proposals let you model changes before making them. You can calculate the impact on energy use, carbon footprint, and cost before committing.

Examples:

“Replace 50 fluorescent lights with LEDs”
“Add air conditioning to the server room”
“Upgrade boiler system across all sites”

Status: Coming Soon - This feature is under development.

Task

What it means: A to-do item assigned to a person, often related to an asset.

In practice: Tasks track accountability - who needs to do what, by when. They can be linked to assets (e.g., “Inspect fire extinguisher #23 by Friday”).

Examples:

“Complete annual boiler inspection”
“Verify serial numbers on new equipment”
“Update asset photos for insurance audit”

Status: Coming Soon - This feature is under development.

Permission Terms

These terms describe who can do what.

Role

What it means: A predefined set of permissions that determine what actions someone can take.

In practice: Instead of granting individual permissions, you assign Roles. Roles bundle common permissions together.

Available Roles:

Owner - Full control including delete (usually one person per Estate)
Admin - Manage users, settings, and all content
Editor - Create and modify assets and floor plans
Viewer - View-only access, cannot make changes

Scope

What it means: The boundary within which a permission applies.

In practice: Permissions can be granted at different scopes - an Estate Viewer can see everything, while a Site Editor can only edit at one specific site.

Scopes (from broad to narrow):

Estate - Applies to entire portfolio
Site - Applies to one location
Layer - Applies to one layer within a site

See Permission Scopes for detailed guidance.

Quick Reference Table

Term	What it is	Real-world analogy
Estate	Your entire portfolio	A holding company
Site	One physical location	One pin on Google Maps
Building	A structure at a site	Something you walk into
Floor Plan	Image of a floor level	A blueprint
Room	A space on a floor	An enclosed area
Boundary	A drawn area	A zone or region
Asset	A specific tracked item	The actual equipment
Listing	A product template	An item in a parts catalogue
Catalogue	Collection of Listings	A product library
Data Profile	Versioned field bundle a Catalogue binds to	A form template
Layer	Overlay on floor plan	Tracing paper
Drawing	Interactive floor plan	A live blueprint
Proposal	Planned change	A project plan
Task	A to-do item	An assignment
Role	Permission bundle	A job title
Scope	Permission boundary	Access level

Key Concepts - Visual introduction to core concepts
Developer Glossary - Technical terminology for developers