AEC × AI glossary

An AI agent is software that uses an AI model to carry out a multi-step task towards a goal — reading inputs, deciding next steps and using tools — usually with a person approving key actions.

AI governance is the set of policies, roles and controls an organisation uses to make sure AI is used safely, legally and in line with its values.

AI readiness is how prepared an organisation is to use artificial intelligence well — measured across its data, tools, people, processes and leadership.

An axonometric is a drawing or view that shows a 3D object without perspective, so parallel lines stay parallel and measurements along each axis remain true to scale.

The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) is India's code for energy-efficient commercial buildings, developed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).

Building information modeling (BIM) is a way of designing and managing buildings using intelligent 3D models whose elements carry information such as type, size, material and quantity.

A BOQ (bill of quantities) is a document listing the materials, items and work required for a construction project, with quantities and units, used for tendering, costing and billing.

A CDE (common data environment) is a single, agreed online place where a project team stores, shares and manages drawings, models and documents, with clear revisions and approval states.

Clash detection is the automated process of finding places where elements from different building models — such as ducts, beams and pipes — occupy the same space or are too close.

Computer vision is a field of AI that lets software interpret images and video — recognising objects, reading drawings or measuring progress from photographs.

A context window is the maximum amount of text — measured in tokens — that an AI model can consider at once, including the instructions, documents and conversation.

The critical path is the longest chain of dependent activities in a project schedule; any delay to an activity on it delays the whole project.

A digital twin is a connected digital model of a physical building, site or portfolio that combines design, construction and operating data and is kept up to date over time.

The DPDP Act (Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023) is India's law governing how organisations collect, use and protect the digital personal data of individuals.

Earned value is a project-control method that compares the value of work actually completed with the planned work and the actual cost, to measure schedule and cost performance.

Egress is the safe way out of a building in an emergency — the exits, corridors, stairs and travel distances that let occupants reach safety.

EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) is a contracting model in which one contractor is responsible for design engineering, buying materials and equipment, and building the project, usually for a fixed price.

FAR (floor area ratio), also called FSI (floor space index) in many Indian cities, is the total built-up floor area permitted on a plot divided by the plot area.

A Gantt chart is a bar chart that shows project activities against time, with each bar's position and length showing when the activity starts and how long it takes.

Generative design is a process in which software produces many design options from goals and constraints set by the designer, such as area, daylight, cost or structure, for the designer to evaluate.

GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) is India's national green building rating system, developed by TERI with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Ground coverage is the percentage of a plot's area that the building footprint is allowed to cover at ground level, as set by local building bye-laws.

An AI hallucination is an output from an AI model that sounds plausible but is false or unsupported, such as an invented clause, figure or reference.

IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) is an open, international data format for exchanging building information models between software, maintained by buildingSMART International and published as ISO 16739.

The IGBC (Indian Green Building Council), part of the Confederation of Indian Industry, runs green building rating systems for homes, offices, factories and other building types in India.

A large language model (LLM) is an AI model trained on very large amounts of text that can understand and generate language — answering questions, summarising documents and drafting text.

LOD (level of development) describes how complete and reliable the geometry and information of a BIM element is at a given project stage, usually on a scale from LOD 100 to LOD 500.

Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence in which software learns patterns from data, rather than following only hand-written rules, and uses them to make predictions or decisions.

The National Building Code of India (NBC) is a national model code published by the Bureau of Indian Standards that gives guidelines for building planning, structure, fire and life safety, services and sustainability.

Open BIM is an approach to BIM that uses open, vendor-neutral standards such as IFC so project teams can share models and data regardless of the software each one uses.

Parametric modeling is a way of building digital models in which elements are defined by rules and parameters, so changing one value, such as a wall height or window width, updates everything that depends on it.

Path tracing is a rendering technique that simulates how light bounces around a scene to produce physically realistic images, usually computed on a GPU.

PBR (physically based rendering) is an approach to materials and lighting in 3D graphics that models how real surfaces reflect light, so materials look consistent under any lighting.

A point cloud is a large set of 3D points, captured by laser scanning or photogrammetry, that records the exact shape of an existing building, site or object.

Prompt engineering is the practice of writing clear instructions, context and examples for an AI model so that it produces useful, consistent output.

Push/Pull modeling is a direct 3D modeling technique in which a user draws a flat shape and pushes or pulls it to create volume, popularised by SketchUp.

Quantity takeoff is the process of measuring and counting the materials and items shown in drawings or models — such as areas, volumes and numbers of doors — to prepare a BOQ or estimate.

Reality capture is the process of recording existing conditions digitally using laser scanners, drones, 360° cameras or photogrammetry, producing point clouds, meshes or images.

Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) is a technique in which an AI system first searches a set of trusted documents for relevant passages and then uses them to write its answer, usually with references.

An RFI (request for information) is a formal question, usually from a contractor to the design team, asking for clarification of drawings, specifications or site conditions.

A setback is the minimum open distance a building must keep from the plot boundary or road, as set by local building bye-laws.

A submittal is information a contractor sends to the design team for review before work starts — such as shop drawings, product data sheets or material samples.

A vector database stores pieces of text, images or other data as numerical vectors so that software can find items with similar meaning, not just matching words.