I want to model the effects of tree shade on building heating and cooling loads. I have set the tree up in it's own EnergyPlus zone but it won't let it be anything other than a "BuildingSurface." How do I set this up to become an object within the "Shading:Zone:Detailed" class? Once it is set, is there an option to vary the opacity of the tree?
You have to initiate a shading surface group first, and then move the object inside of it. You're looking for this button in the OpenStudio Tools toolbar: 
Click the button and set the axis somewhere (I would just set it at the origin). Select your object and cut, then double click into the shading surface group and paste in place.
You can vary opacity within the Shading:Building:Detailed object by varying the Transmittance Schedule parameter (details in the link).
One other thing you may run into is if your object is grouped. You may need to explode it before saving, as sometimes OS will not recognize grouped objects.
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