Hi Rick,

Here?s my methodology for making custom shapes using polygons:

1. Imagine you are standing outside of the building looking squarely at
the surface. Your first point (0,0) will be at the bottom left hand corner
? this corner will eventually correspond to the floor polygon vertex that
anchors your custom shape to the rest of the building.
2. Now enter the coordinates for each additional point as you travel
counter-clockwise around the shape. All of the coordinate values will be
expressed in terms of how far away they are from the first point, (0,0), and
the actual surface (not the dimension indicated in plan views). You will
need to use dusty geometry skills to convert plan dimensions, specifically:
Cosine = Adjacent / Hypotenuse. You want to solve for the hypotenuse and
you get the adjacent length from plan view dimensions; measure the angle of
roof tilt with a protractor on the exterior elevations or building cross
sections.
3. Now that you have a polygon, use it to make an exterior wall. Under
?Location & Geometry?, set the Location as the vertex of the parent space
polygon that is located closest to the (0,0) point of the new child surface
polygon.
4. For non-square walls, the Tilt will be 90? and there is likely to
not be a reason to change the X, Y, or Z offsets or the Azimuth. All of
these offsets are relative to the vertex of the parent space polygon that
anchors the child polygon. Changing the X offset moves the child surface
along the plane defined by the parent polygon anchor point and the next
parent polygon point (counter-clockwise as viewed from above). Changing the
Y offset moves the child surface along a plane that is normal to the X
offset. The azimuth of the child polygon is the angle between the lower
edge of the child polygon relative to the wall defined by the parent polygon
anchor vertex.
5. For simple sloped roofs with no eaves, change the Z offset to be the
height of the vertical walls, leave the Azimuth at 0, and make the Tilt the
angle of pitch relative to horizontal.
6. If a sloped roof has eaves, then the X and Y offsets need to be
changed to be sure that the (0,0) point of the child polygon is located the
correct distance from the parent space polygon anchor vertex. The Z offset
will probably need to be slightly shorter than the height of the wall.

Sorry if this is more detail than what you were looking for, but the
procedure may be helpful for others who are new to custom mode model
development.

I have never run across that error message - it is quite opaque. It would
be great if eQuest were to generate more insightful error messages!

Eric Studer, PE, LEED AP