Error Warning: "CalculateZoneVolume: 3 zones are not fully enclosed" Does this have a large impact on on space heating and cooling loads? [closed]
Hi All,
Looking at the passive solar heat gain of a structure and just wondering if the warning mentioned above will have a large impact on space heating or cooling.
It's hard to know, it could be trivial or could be a huge problem. You should certainly look at geometry and identify what causes this and if you can fix it. If you don't fix it you should look at the reported floor area and volume and see if it is what you expect.
If an envelope element does not exist where it should (i.e., you are missing a wall), lack of thermal mass and radiation/convection provided by that wall element to the zone air would also impact load balance. See @shorowit's reply below: leaving a gap in the enclosure does not result in infiltration. If you are using OpenStudio to generate your IDF you should look in the Geometry tab; I think there is a way to render by constructions, boundary conditions etc. (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=des...)
I suggest an empirical test: Enter very different values for the Zone: Volume field and see how sensitive the results are.
@sashadf1 That's not how EnergyPlus (nor DOE-2 or many other similar engines) works. A "missing" surface does not mean you have a hole in your building that brings in infiltration. You can absolutely run EnergyPlus without fully enclosed surfaces, we do it all the time.