Need to Break the Myth that Sustainable Practices are More Expensive

Steve Bluestone, The Bluestone Group

01/31/2009

Name: Steven Bluestone
Business: Bluestone Organization
Position: Partner
NESEA member since: the beginning
Website: http://www.bluestoneorg.com/

Business description: The Bluestone Organization is a full service real estate development company with experience and expertise in site selection, planning, financing, construction, sales, marketing and management.

How do you define sustainability?
A function of building or producing in a manner that won't detrimentally affect our environment and/or deplete available resources (energy, materials, etc.).

What project are you most proud of?
Besides my own "green" house (now eight years old), a 50-unit, six-story apartment building in New York City that I am constructing now (which my partners and I will own and manage indefinitely) that is our most "sustainable/green" project to date.

What energy advice do you have for the new president?
Figure out a method of transferring the portion of our federal taxes that support energy based "wars" to the energy interests that we are fighting to "protect."  In other words, increase the tax on gas, oil and electricity to cover much of the direct costs of our MidEast conflicts, and decrease our income tax proportionately.  Then, and only then, will we all start to conserve in a meaningful way.

What promising technology would you like to know more about?
Newer and better batteries.

What's the public's biggest misunderstanding regarding sustainable energy systems?
That they cost too much.  Life cycle costing using historical energy price increase indexes are a key factor in people deciding whether or not to go in this direction.

What prompted you to join NESEA?
I first joined almost 30 years ago. It is a good organization that is doing a good job of spreading the word.