Recently, The Holocaust Museum Houston has won the Houston Business Journal’s 2020 Landmark award for Community Impact. This renovation project was a highlight of our year and we couldn’t be more pleased with the museum getting the recognition it deserves. We encourage everyone to visit the newly renovated spaces and explore the important historical […]
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The Smart Financial Center is Opening!
The Smart Financial Center is Opening! And Pieper couldn’t be happier! We’ve been working on Sugar Land’s brand new performing arts center since December of 2014 to install electrical infrastructure — including specialty color changing lighting throughout the facility and DMX lighting control, as well as fire alarms, structured cabling, security-cameras and access control. The […]
The Better Step: Preventative Maintenance
The Better Step: Preventative Maintenance Just like skipping your annual physical, it can be tempting to not call your electrician until a problem arises. However, that approach, called reactive maintenance, isn’t always the best course of action. A strong preventative maintenance program can save money by reducing the number of equipment failures you face and […]
Accidents Happen in an (Arc) Flash
Accidents Happen in an (Arc) Flash Safety advancements along with new technology have reduced the number of arc flash incidents that occur each year. Unfortunately they still happen, often sending workers to the emergency room for care. What is an Arc Flash? According to OSHA, it’s “a phenomenon where a flashover of electrical current leaves […]
Secret Savers: Tips for Office Energy Efficiency
Secret Savers: Tips for Office Energy Efficiency As the temperatures continue to drop, it’s common for heaters, and with them electric bills, to rise. However, there are countless small steps that you can take to cut back on energy expenses. Here are a few simple ways to keep those bills from getting the better of […]
Deck the Halls
Deck the Halls Let Pieper help make this holiday season bright! With all the bright, twinkling lights and warm, powerful heaters, the holiday season can put quite a load on your electrical system. Whether you need a dedicated breaker for Christmas lights or a back-up generator for your heating system, Pieper will make sure you’re […]
Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween Pieper had a lot of little monsters running around this Halloween! […]
TAHFM Clay Shoot
TAHFM Clay Shoot Pieper had a great time at the TAHFM Clay Shoot with Duane Bennett from Emerus Health Care, Travis Hodges from Grace Presbyterian and Carl Biano with JE Dunn. […]
Steps Towards Safety: The Importance of Preventative Maintenance
Steps Towards Safety: The Importance of Preventative Maintenance It’s midnight on a Friday and the ER is filled to capacity. In the midst of this chaos, there is a sudden whirring sound. Then silence. Darkness. The backup generators are not kicking in as planned… Preventive maintenance (PM) is essential to any hospital’s electrical maintenance plan. […]
Rewriting the Future of Trade Professionals
Rewriting the Future of Trade Professionals Currently experiencing a downswing in skilled workers, the construction sector is actively implementing strategies to better market professional and craft worker positions. One standout organization involved in changing the population’s mindset is Construction Career Collaborative (C3), an alliance of owners, contractors and specialty contractors dedicated to addressing the issues […]
Seek Shelter from Lightning Strikes
Seek Shelter from Lightning Strikes The summer storms in Houston remind us that summer is the peak time of year for lightning strikes. Did you know that lightning is one of the top three storm-related killers in the U.S.? Every year, an average of 54 people are killed by lightning, according to the National Weather […]
Stay Safe during Storm Season
Stay Safe during Storm Season Storm season is well under way in the Houston area. Rain and lightning alike have crashed down upon the city, increasing the risk of electrical fires due to downed trees and wires. While last year’s drought has made us grateful for the rain, these powerful storms are not welcome news […]
Pieper’s Family Night with the Dynamo
Pieper’s Family Night with the Dynamo Pieper employees along with family and friends enjoyed a night out at BBVA Compass Stadium, watching the Houston Dynamo take on the Portland Timbers. It was an exciting game with the Dynamo taking the lead in the 2nd half and ultimately winning 3-1. The night began with 22 lucky […]
Come See Us at the BOMA Expo!
Come See Us at the BOMA Expo! Stop by our booth at the Houston BOMA Expo, where we’ll have fun giveaways and can answer questions about your building’s maintenance needs. When: May 21, 2015 2 – 7 p.m. Where: NRG Center One NRG Park Houston, Texas 77054 We hope to see you there! […]
What’s Better than Good Food and Great Friends?
What’s Better than Good Food and Great Friends? Thanks for rocking out with us at the AGC 24th Annual BBQ Cook-Off! We hope you enjoyed the great food and had fun hanging with friends. Check out some of the highlights from the day! […]
Offering the Best and Brightest for Schools
Offering the Best and Brightest for Schools When the bell for first period rings, students should walk into cool, bright and clean classrooms with good lighting, study materials and technology. Building and maintaining an environment that is conducive for learning (and teaching) can be a challenge. In fact, research shows that a facility’s condition directly […]
LEDs Lead the Way
LEDs Lead the Way An important part of our everyday lives, lighting uses about 22% of all electricity generated in the U.S., according to Department of Energy statistics. It’s no wonder that the DOE and efficiency supporters have promoted upgraded lighting technologies to improve energy efficiency and reduce building energy consumption and costs. In fact, […]
The Bright Impact of Lighting
The Bright Impact of Lighting When you walk inside a historic church, how does the lighting affect your impression of the space? How does that experience compare to when you walk into an office building or a school? Notice how the right or wrong lighting can change your experience or mood. Research has shown that […]
Sound the Alarm: Causes of Fires in Commercial Buildings
Sound the Alarm: Causes of Fires in Commercial Buildings As a concerned business owner, you continually evaluate the safety of your workplace and how to improve upon it. You often do not consider electrical systems, which have become safer and more dependable as a result of strict building codes, advanced technology, solid system design, professional […]
The Electrical System: The Pulse of a Hospital
The Electrical System: The Pulse of a Hospital You’ve heard of the Hippocratic Oath, a sworn pledge taken by physicians and other healthcare professionals that they will practice medicine ethically. Their top priority is the welfare of their patients, whose lives often depend on medical equipment, which of course needs electricity to run. Since electricity […]
Lighting Updates Save Energy and Dollars
Lighting Updates Save Energy and Dollars Did you know that, according to a study by Pikes Research, an energy-saving lighting update to your building can provide energy savings from 10% to more than 50%? That’s right! That’s in part because lighting accounts for more than 40% of the commercial sector’s electricity consumption, according to the […]
Setting the Standard with NFPA 110
Setting the Standard with NFPA 110 Whenever we hear thunder and watch lightning crack the sky, we all buckle down and await the brewing storm. As we watch the storm roll in, many of us run to check our junk drawers for flashlights and spare batteries, just in case there’s a power outage. What happens […]
Transform Your Transformer
Transform Your Transformer Do you know how long a transformer is meant to last? 10 years? 20? 30? 40? The life expectancy is approximately 20 years, but rarely are transformers replaced for technical reasons only. Many transformers are retired because they become increasingly inefficient over time. If the existing transformers are older, but are working […]
Holiday and Vacation Energy Saving Tips
Holiday and Vacation Energy Saving Tips Between office parties, gift exchanges and travel, the holidays can get expensive. It’s also not unusual for electric bills to spike as we turn on our heaters and leave the holiday lights on around the clock. But believe it or not, one of the places that you can cut […]
Preventative Maintenance is the Cure
Preventative Maintenance is the Cure With many people on vacation and buildings emptier in the summer and towards the end of the year, those are the perfect times to give your building a preventative maintenance check-up, complete with an infrared electrical inspection. Infrared inspections are specifically designed to identify potential problems before they happen so […]
Light Up the Silver Screen, Not Your Electrical System
Light Up the Silver Screen, Not Your Electrical System People are attracted to watching big, fiery explosions. It’s why we like watching action movies so much — the lights, sparkle and loud boom! But as much fun as we have staring in awe at the flames and debris on the big screen, it’s not so […]
Dinosaurs and Incandescent Lamps – A Page in History
Dinosaurs and Incandescent Lamps – A Page in History You might have heard the discussion about the outlawing of incandescent lamps. Well, the truth is something a little different: The lamps are being phased out, not outlawed. The lamps affected are Type A-style (common pear-shaped lamps) in the 40, 60, 75 and 100 watt. The […]
School is Never Out
School is Never Out Even after our apprentices complete their apprenticeship at the Independent Electrical Contractors of Houston (IEC), their education continues. At Pieper, they start a new phase in learning because school is never out. Each day is an opportunity to better yourself with knowledge, patience, leadership and compassion. Did you know that each […]
Plan Ahead with Prefabrication
Plan Ahead with Prefabrication We have all seen the changes occurring in the construction marketplace. For years, we have watched as projects have increased in complexity and schedules have been compressed — all while fewer craftsmen enter the workplace and the margins shrink. Prefabrication can help meet these demands. Many components of the electrical system […]
Get Current on Safety Standards in a Flash: Understanding OSHA regulations and the NFPA Standard 70E
Get Current on Safety Standards in a Flash: Understanding OSHA regulations and the NFPA Standard 70E Arc Flash Analysis. It’s not a test to see if you can figure out what makes the superhero, The Flash, so cool and how he saves lives. But it is a test that has recently fallen under a new […]
The Inner Workings of Construction Sites
The Inner Workings of Construction Sites Construction jobsites are active and dangerous places, filled with various craftsmen working on a myriad of tasks, each attempting to be productive while coordinating their efforts efficiently and safely with all other craftsmen involved. It’s a lot to say grace over. Assuming the role of conductor for the construction […]
ONLY YOU Can Prevent Office Fires
ONLY YOU Can Prevent Office Fires It seems like something out of an action movie. In just a fraction of a second, a tremendous blast of concentrated energy pulses through the air, releasing an incredible wave of heat and sending shards of debris flying. But this is no special effect. This is an arc flash, […]
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure Mother tends to have a lot of advice that we should probably heed more often, like “look before you leap” or “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” In the realm of electrical circuits, power supply and system maintenance, you wouldn’t think any of […]
Why Do You Need Transient Voltage Surge Suppression (TVSS)?
Why Do You Need Transient Voltage Surge Suppression (TVSS)? At Pieper, we are often asked what TVSS is and why it’s needed. Others may refer to these devices as a voltage or lighting arrestor, but they are not the new sheriff in town and arrest nothing, nor are they simply a “lightning protection device. A […]
Bringing Retro Back to the Future
Bringing Retro Back to the Future With the growing popularity of fluorescent, CFL and LED lighting, incandescent bulbs may soon be a thing of the past. Energy efficient equipment is also growing in popularity. But you might not have to get rid of your old appliances just yet – Pieper might have the right solution […]
Are You Paying Too Much for Power?
Are You Paying Too Much for Power? Think of a stream of energy like a stream of water. Now, imagine a water wheel in that stream. The water pushing the wheel does the work. That’s real power. The rest of the water in the stream is the reactive power. The difference between the two is […]
Staying Safe in the Summer: Reduce Risks During Storms
Staying Safe in the Summer: Reduce Risks During Storms Having the ability to recognize possible risks before, during and after a summer storm can significantly reduce the possibility of a fire. The U.S. Fire Administration and Pieper encourage you to take preventative measures and adhere to some safety advice about the damage summer storms can […]
Your No. 1 Hurricane Prep: Backup Power
Your No. 1 Hurricane Prep: Backup Power One of the scarcest resources after a hurricane is electricity. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most important. Medical facilities and police and fire stations need electricity to maintain public wellness, which is why they plan ahead with permanent backup power. But private businesses often see the effects […]
Staying Grounded: The Importance of Safeguarding Your Circuits
Staying Grounded: The Importance of Safeguarding Your Circuits If you’re planning on rearranging, relocating or purchasing new machines or electronics, do you have plans in place to ensure your equipment is properly grounded? Without professional grounding, dangerous shock hazards exist that could electrocute employees, cause damage to sensitive electronics or produce showers of sparks around […]
Don’t Forget: Schedule Your Electrical Check-Up
Don’t Forget: Schedule Your Electrical Check-Up When was the last time your building had an electrical check-up? One year? Two years? More? Then it’s time to call Pieper. Electrical systems should receive annual or semi-annual inspections to ensure the longevity of the system, as well as your safety. Plus, a simple inspection can save you […]
Crafting Careers and the Future of Construction
Crafting Careers and the Future of Construction In 2009, a group of owners and contractors (both general and specialty) met to discuss the commercial construction workforce in the greater Houston area, and realized that there was a growing need for craftsmen. Over the years, the workforce has aged, shifted into one that is increasingly misclassified […]
Give Your Electrical System a Lil’ TLC
Give Your Electrical System a Lil’ TLC Have you ever noticed that your electrical system doesn’t give out during your normal, everyday routine? It tends to fail during the most inopportune times, such as an important business meeting or in the middle of a major project. Unfortunately, the leading cause of failure is lack of […]
Save Money with Sustainable Energy Practices
Save Money with Sustainable Energy Practices When it comes to your electrical system, you don’t need the luck of the Irish to find a pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow. Saving money is simple with Pieper’s green energy expertise. Nationally, businesses spend more than $60 billion on energy each year. Fortunately, you […]