TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
that provided by the seven installations answer-
CRREL conducted two demonstration projects
ing the questionnaire has proven useful in assess-
under authority of the Corps of Engineers Facili-
ing the potential market in the Army and deter-
ties Engineering Application Program, one in 1990
mining the strengths and weaknesses of the vent.
and the other in 1992, to increase awareness of the
On the question of the market, we had originally
new blister vent technology, to show its benefits,
hoped for five installations at which to test the
and to learn of barriers to its use.
vent. We anticipated having to contact many loca-
The 1990 project, at Fort Devens, Massachu-
tions before finding five that would participate in
setts, was conducted to demonstrate how easily
the program. To our amazement, nearly all instal-
vents could be installed by an outside contractor
lations contacted were interested. As word of the
and by in-house maintenance workers. In both
program circulated, unsolicited requests began to
cases, no prior training or on-site assistance was
come in. Therefore, instead of distributing a lot of
provided to installers. An 8-minute CRREL video-
vents to a few installations, we decided to send
tape was all that was used to self-train the contrac-
fewer vents to many installations. The need for
tor and in-house maintenance staff, and both
and the interest in the blister vent appeared
found the vent easy to use, averaging about two
strong.
minutes per vent installation. Each blister vent
The results from this demonstration were quite
was installed for by the contractor and .55
encouraging. At the seven installations answering
by the in-house staff workers, which included
the questionnaire, 13 roofs were treated with any-
for the vent in both situations. Had the blisters
where from 3 to 300 vents, depending on the
been repaired by the usual cut-and-patch method,
number of blisters present. Approximately 600
the cost per blister would have jumped to an esti-
vents were used and installed. Respondents de-
mated . The savings add up rapidly as blister
scribed their experiences with the vent as one of
numbers increase. The alternative of doing noth-
pleasant surprise. On average, each vent was in-
ing until problems arise can be even more costly,
stalled in two minutes, which included preparing
as reroofing a failed, leaking roof can be prohi-
the roof surface and installing the vent. The vents
bitively expensive.
were installed by in-house maintenance staff in all
Word of the Fort Devens success was dissemi-
but one case, where the roof was maintained by
nated through technical reports, conference atten-
permanent contract personnel. The only training
dance, and magazine articles and via avenues pre-
anyone received was to watch the CRREL video-
viously established by FEAP. Despite these efforts,
tape. All installers agreed that the installation pro-
it became clear that few people within the Army
cess was easy and that blister breakage was not a
had been reached with the technology. Thus, a
problem. The only time blisters were reported to
second demonstration, different from the first,
have broken was when the roof membrane was
was planned.
dry and brittle.
In 1992, a program was devised to reach more
To date all vents appear to be performing flaw-
building owners in hope that others would learn
lessly. The consensus is that the vents are most ef-
from the individual experiences thus gained. The
fective when the roof has not deteriorated to the
program made vents available free of charge to
point where it has become brittle. The vents
any interested DoD installation. In exchange, the
should be applied when blisters are small. Other
installation was to provide an evaluation of the
comments suggested that a simple installation
vent by answering a short CRREL questionnaire
tool could be devised to speed up installation
(Appendix A). The vent manufacturer participat-
even more, even though all respondents were
ed in the program by matching any vent purchase
pleased with the already simple installation pro-
with an equal number of free vents. In all, 5000
cess.
When the respondents were asked if additional
vents were made available to the program: 2500
vents might be purchased or if the vent would be
purchased by CRREL and 2500 donated by the
recommended to others, the answer came back
manufacturer.
very clearly that the selling price of the vent was
Eighteen installations volunteered to test and
an issue. Technically, the concept and perfor-
evaluate the vent (Appendix B). Of these, seven
installations returned the CRREL questionnaire,
mance of the vent was not questioned. However,
though blisters may be a costly maintenance item,
providing an assessment of the vent. Though
even when nothing is done to repair them, the
evaluation response was low, the information
usual response indicated little desire to purchase
gained by conducting the demonstration added to
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