Independent Building Science Research
Bridging building science
and the people inside.
Building science offers precise, powerful tools for understanding how homes perform. Ambience.Systems is an independent research practice dedicated to bringing that knowledge closer to the people inside, through field research, thermal diagnostics, and a long-term commitment to innovating how we understand the built environment.
Current Research
The following study is currently in progress and recruiting participants in Piedmont, CA.
Bridging the Performance Gap: A Field Study of Home Energy Scores and Subjective Thermal Comfort in Historic California Homes
The Home Energy Score provides a valuable, standardized picture of a building's physical energy characteristics. This field study asks a complementary question: how do occupants of older, unretrofitted homes actually experience thermal comfort, and what adaptive behaviors shape that experience?
Twenty single-family homes in Piedmont, CA (Climate Zone 3C, built before 1978 , predating California’s first residential energy code, Title 24) are assessed using standardized HES methodology, paired with a mixed-methods Post-Occupancy Evaluation drawing on ASHRAE Standard 55 sensation scales and qualitative, human-centered inquiry. The aim is not to challenge the asset rating, but to build a fuller picture alongside it.
Call for Research Participants
Seeking homeowners in Piedmont with single-family homes built before 1978. No prior assessments required. Enrolling up to 20 homes.
Your home has a story worth telling
in homes built before 1978
+ 30-min winter follow-up
($550 value, valid 5 years)
your property never identified
What you receive — sample reports
Call for Research Participants
Your home has a story worth telling
If you live in a home in Piedmont that was built before 1978 and have ever wondered why it feels the way it does, this research is interested in exactly that.
About the study
This field study pairs a Home Energy Score assessment with a post-occupancy comfort survey in single-family homes built before 1978 in Piedmont, CA. The aim is to build a fuller picture of how historic homes perform alongside how the people inside actually experience them. This is a preliminary study; we plan to submit a paper to the 2027 ASHRAE Winter Conference and continue as a longitudinal research program.
Number of participants needed
- 20 households
Who is eligible
- You own and live in a single-family home in Piedmont, CA
- The home was built before 1978 (pre-Title 24)
- No prior energy assessments required
What’s involved
- One 2-hour home visit in summer 2026 (June 8–30 or August 1–18) for a full Home Energy Score assessment plus two brief comfort surveys
- A short winter follow-up in January 2027 (~30 minutes, the same two surveys and temperature sensors)
- Share your past 12 months of PG&E usage via a secure one-click authorization on PG&E’s own site. No password sharing required.
What does a Home Energy Score assessment entail?
It is a non-invasive visual inspection — no drilling, cutting, or alterations to your home. During the 2-hour visit:
- Measuring exterior dimensions, ceiling heights, and windows
- Checking insulation levels in the attic and crawl space (visual only)
- Documenting your heating, cooling, and water heating systems
- Taking required photos of key components (exterior, attic, mechanical systems)
- Two brief thermal comfort surveys — one on-the-spot, one about the past 3 months
Curious what the report looks like? Browse sample reports below:
What you receive
- A complete Home Energy Score report and a summary of utility baseload/usage analysis at no charge. If you plan to sell your home, you will need this report anyway, and it will be valid for the next five years.
- All data is anonymized; your property is never identified in any published findings
Note on costs
The assessment is provided at no charge. A $250 BayREN rebate is collected by Ambience.Systems to offset research costs. You will be asked to sign the BayREN rebate form acknowledging this arrangement.
How to schedule
- Use the Google Calendar scheduling link to pick a convenient two-hour slot. We will then send you a rebate form, a consent form, and a questionnaire online.
Human subject research protocol
- All data anonymized before analysis. Your property address and identity will never appear in any published findings.
- We will never sell or transfer your information to any third party. No marketing or solicitations beyond this research.
- No further sales attempts or solicitations beyond this research.
About Shin
Dr. Shin Sano has been your neighbor in Piedmont since 2012 and has sent three kids through PUSD schools. A former UX designer and researcher in the automotive sector, and ex-CPO and current Advisor at eneye, Inc., a thermal imaging startup, an experience that brought him into the world of building science. Having assessed primarily Piedmont, Berkeley, and Oakland homes as a DOE Certified Home Energy Score Assessor, he is passionate about how standardized energy asset ratings can help people take meaningful action in the real world: pursuing energy efficiency and thermal comfort without having to sacrifice one for the other.
About
Ambience.Systems is the independent research practice of Dr. Shin Sano, based in Piedmont, California.
Trained in Informatics and Human-Centered Design methods, Shin came to building science through practice rather than academia. He has conducted residential energy assessments across the Bay Area as a DOE Certified Home Energy Score Assessor and BPI Certified Building Analyst through Ambience.House. The research questions grew directly out of that fieldwork.
Ambience.Systems is an independent practice, not affiliated with a university or institution. What it lacks in institutional backing it makes up for in direct access to real homes and the people living in them. This research sits at the edge of several established fields: building science, human factors, and adaptive comfort theory. Input and collaboration from those communities is genuinely welcome.
shin@ambience.systems
