Your ridge vent is the exsaust and soffit and or sheething can be the intake.

for the soffit side, use the ..prop-vents method in conjuntion with the soffit to bring the air past the wall, insulation and or floor,or if you have cielings, all the way up to the ridge vent before installing the cieling. If cieling already exsists,....it`s easyest and less expensive to remove roof sheething while re-roofing and install them.

...for the cathiedral cieling, use the cold vent method. This is useing two pices of plywood with strapping between them to appear like the edge of cardboard. At the bottom ( eaves ) use vented dripedge across the length, ( must not have gutters,or ice in winter will back up into the vented metal.)on top of the previously installed ice and water barrier barrier, then a strip over the metals backedge,(minimum ten inches). You can adjust the face angle of the dripedge on a metal break to fit snug against the edge. the ridgevent goes on last. Make sure the holes are cut back one inch on either side of the ridgepole. If you insist on gutters in cold climates, use heat tape to keep the water flowing down the gutters and downpipes, and deal with occational leaks !!

This page has a bunch of stuff on here about ridge vents and their benefits. Maybe something might be of benefit while you're figuring out if they will work for your home. Good luck on the project.

http://www.myhomeimprovement.com/?m=53&page=prev_list&cid=34&qpage=6