Zones not working right. Feature or Bug??

[Pete]

I am struggling with zones in AC11. When using automatic boundary detection to reference line, the zone fill and nodes still stop at the interior edges. Therefore, I cannot see where the (gross area) boundaries of the zone are. The gross versus net areas are messed up.

For example, I have a room that is 147 sf (net) but the gross area is nearly 3x that size. The walls are only 5.5" thick, so it can't be right. Since I can't see the true boundaries, I don't know which reference lines the zone is finding, therefore I can't troubleshoot & adjust the zone.

Manual zone boundaries take too long when you have lots of zones and they do not easily adjust to changes. Auto detection to the inner edge seems to work correctly, but you get net area only.

Anyone else having trouble? Any solutions?

[Tom Krowka]

had similar issues, but my problem was that the net was a whole lot less than the gross. Check the zone settings in project preferences, under options I think. That's where my problem was.

[Pete]

Yep, same deal. My net is a lot less than gross, but only in some zones. I experimented with a plain square on the same story of the same file using the same zone stamp and settings. The square worked correctly (unless I put another room inside it, but that's another issue).

So, I think the problem is the boundary to reference line, but since I cant see that boundary, I can't tell where it is.

[Anonymous]

Pete wrote:
Yep, same deal. My net is a lot less than gross, but only in some zones. I experimented with a plain square on the same story of the same file using the same zone stamp and settings. The square worked correctly (unless I put another room inside it, but that's another issue).

So, I think the problem is the boundary to reference line, but since I cant see that boundary, I can't tell where it is.

If you select the zone and go to settings, you can change the zone polygon from Net to Gross (upper right corner of dialogue box below name info) and the outline/hotspots will move to the gross outline.

Hope it helps.

[Tom Krowka]

The pln I was using had been migrated from 9 to 10, where it's staying. Perhaps they became corrupted during that proces.. I also had to delete and redo some of the zones. No matter what I did, they stayed goofy. When I deleted existing boundaries and put in new ones by polygon, after I changed zone settings, all worked fine.

[Pete]

Doh! I completely overlooked that setting (of course there was no mention in the manual). At least I can now see where my reference lines need patching. I am betting that when my zone schedule is run, the numbers will now add up. Thanks Chris and Tom!

So, I guess the answer is: FEATURE