Lose the hot pockets, balance your ventilation!

By Lauren White.

Air Vent’s Ask the Experts seminar drew a full house of industry professionals eager to learn about balanced ventilation systems in Oregon. 

Good morning from Portland, Oregon! On this classic rainy spring day in PDX, an army of roofing trucks filled with tools and ladders brought over 130 roofing professionals to the Embassy Suites for an engaging presentation from Paul Scelsi with Air Vent about all things ventilation! The 26th year of this Ask the Expert™ seminar series and the 21st time educating roofers in Portland, saw Paul leading the audience, including some of the Coffee Shop crew, through a two-hour ventilation journey, exploring intake, exhaust, airflow and more! 

Starting off, Paul asked, “Why have we been touring North America for almost three decades to talk about the benefits of attic ventilation?” The answer? To fight heat buildup, moisture buildup and ice dams before they become problematic. An average household produces two to four gallons of water PER DAY through cooking, showering, perspiring, etc. And if a roof isn’t properly vented, that water doesn’t have anywhere to escape and it builds up in the attic, causing damage and diminishing the life of the roof. Unfortunately, most homes today have attics that are not properly vented. Hence the seminar! 

“Attic ventilation is a critical design and performance consideration of a roof system,” according to a technical bulletin from the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturer’s Association (ARMA). Paul joked that if we didn’t remember anything else from his presentation today, remember this: air intake should equal or exceed exhaust area, that means 50% intake vents, 50% high exhaust. Without the proper ventilation, energy efficiency is reduced, the roof life is reduced and the home could experience mold damage from moisture buildup. 

Once we had an understanding of what ventilation means and why it matters to contractors and homeowners, we learned about airflow. It’s necessary to understand airflow and how it affects roofs to help understand ventilation and why it matters.  

The next stop of our journey was to understand the various types of exhaust and intake ventilation options available – best uses, benefits of each, Net Free Area (NFA). As a group, Paul guided us through the exhaust vent decision tree. He showed examples of different rooflines and asked the audience which type of ventilation they would recommend to homeowners with that roofline, explaining why that’s the best option. 

He then showed us how to do the math to calculate ventilation, in addition to how Air Vent can help you calculate the amount of ventilation needed for your project at hand. We even learned there’s an Air Vent app now! It has a calculator to help you quickly determine the ventilation needed without using pen and paper, which is still a viable option. And if you don’t want the app, Air vent has an online calculator for you to utilize that’s customizable with your company logo and colors. It allows you to send bids to homeowners with just a few clicks! 

Other stops on our ventilation journey included installation tips, mistakes to avoid, selling tips and tools, how to respond to homeowner pushback and where to find more information about ventilation. If you can’t attend a seminar, though we recommend you do, it’s a great way to start your day, Air Vent University is available to you online from airvent.com to learn at your own pace and about topics most relevant to you or that you need a refresher on.  

With standing room only, Paul taught professionals in the industry – competitors or not – about airflow, why balanced ventilation matters, how to save homeowners money and save materials from ending up in landfills prematurely due to water damage. Proper ventilation gives moisture in a home a place to go to fight heat buildup, moisture buildup and ice dams before they become problematic. As Paul says, if you remember one thing, remember this: air intake should equal or exceed exhaust area! 

Check for a presentation in your area, you won’t want to miss it!