After working with this for a while I ended up going back to my second method where the cook line was a separate thermal zone. This approach seemed was necessary due to Error 53 (in comments section above).

The assignments were as follows: AirCondgSys = MAU-1; VentSys = MAU-1; ExhaustSys = PCU-1

At the space level I made sure that the "process exhaust" box was checked. I also made sure that Ventilation Air quantity was updated to match the MAU-1 supply air. This was the crucial step I was missing in my original study. It turns out that for systems serving kitchens that have process exhaust; the Baseline outside air value tracks the value entered for the proposed design. (It's actually more complex than this; see the attached screen clip from the ACM.)C:\fakepath\Untitled.png

This methodology resulted in the baseline system energy increasing enough to not penalize me for my MAU.

After working with this for a while I ended up going back to my second method where the cook line was a separate thermal zone. This approach was necessary due to Error 53 (in comments section above).

The assignments were as follows: AirCondgSys = MAU-1; VentSys = MAU-1; ExhaustSys = PCU-1

At the space level I made sure that the "process exhaust" box was checked. I also made sure that Ventilation Air quantity was updated to match the MAU-1 supply air. This was the crucial step I was missing in my original study. It turns out that for systems serving kitchens that have process exhaust; the Baseline outside air value tracks the value entered for the proposed design. (It's actually more complex than this; see the attached screen clip from the ACM.)C:\fakepath\Untitled.png

This methodology resulted in the baseline system energy increasing enough to not penalize me for my MAU.