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I'm finding a strange mismatch between zone area and zone volume in some models I'm building. In the affected models this is having the knock-on effect that a huge amount of heating energy is used, since the infiltration rate is specified as air changes per hour. The tables below show the issue I'm seeing. The first shows the very large volume but with the expected floor and wall areas.

The second shows a more normal volume (for a bigger building) and again expected wall and floor areas. This second model was been produced using the same Python script, but with different footprint as input.

An example IDF with the problem is here in case that helps.

The strange thing is that of approximately 45 buildings, roughly half show this problem while the other half appear normal. What could be causing this effect?

I'm finding a strange mismatch between zone area and zone volume in some models I'm building. In the affected models this is having the knock-on effect that a huge amount of heating energy is used, since the infiltration rate is specified as air changes per hour. The tables below show the issue I'm seeing. The first shows the very large volume but with the expected floor and wall areas.

The second shows a more normal volume (for a bigger building) and again expected wall and floor areas. This second model was been produced using the same Python script, but with different footprint as input.

An example IDF with the problem is here in case that helps.

The strange thing is that of approximately 45 buildings, roughly half show this problem while the other half appear normal. What could be causing this effect?

I'm finding a strange mismatch between zone area and zone volume in some models I'm building. In the affected models this is having the knock-on effect that a huge amount of heating energy is used, since the infiltration rate is specified as air changes per hour. The tables below show the issue I'm seeing. The first shows the very large volume but with the expected floor and wall areas.

The second shows a more normal volume (for a bigger building) and again expected wall and floor areas. This second model was been produced using the same Python script, but with different footprint as input.

An example IDF with the problem is here in case that helps.

The strange thing is that of approximately 45 buildings, roughly half show this problem while the other half appear normal. What could be causing this effect?

Edited

To show the poor construction that led to this. I'd still be interested to know how EnergyPlus interprets a building volume from this if anyone has any insight. Surely it ought to throw an error of some kind.kind?

I'm finding a strange mismatch between zone area and zone volume in some models I'm building. In the affected models this is having the knock-on effect that a huge amount of heating energy is used, since the infiltration rate is specified as air changes per hour. The tables below show the issue I'm seeing. The first shows the very large volume but with the expected floor and wall areas.

The second shows a more normal volume (for a bigger building) and again expected wall and floor areas. This second model was been produced using the same Python script, but with different footprint as input.

An example IDF with the problem is here in case that helps.

The strange thing is that of approximately 45 buildings, roughly half show this problem while the other half appear normal. What could be causing this effect?

I'm finding a strange mismatch between zone area and zone volume in some models I'm building. In the affected models this is having the knock-on effect that a huge amount of heating energy is used, since the infiltration rate is specified as air changes per hour. The tables below show the issue I'm seeing. The first shows the very large volume but with the expected ([edit] or at least reasonable looking) floor and wall areas.

The second shows a more normal volume (for a bigger building) and again expected expected/reasonable wall and floor areas. This second model was been produced using the same Python script, but with different footprint as input.

An example IDF with the problem is here in case that helps.

The strange thing is that of approximately 45 buildings, roughly half show this problem while the other half appear normal. What could be causing this effect?