Roland Schneider
Roland came to ecology through studying Renewable Energy.
Roland was born 1976 in Cologne (Germany). Because of his father's interest in motorsport, Roland visited nearly all European racetracks which gave him close exposure to technical devices. Since those early years, he's been interested in technical components. As a result he undertook an apprenticeship in becoming an electronic technician at the Physical Institute of University of Cologne. As the practical side was not ample enough, and his desire to have a deeper knowledge base, he began studying electrical engineering parallel to his apprenticeship and finished the course in 2004 with a diploma degree.
Astonished at the fact that during 5 years of studying there had only been 4 hours of lectures on alternative energy sources, Roland became interested in the subject and decided on a postgraduate study in 'Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency' which he finished in 2006 with a diploma degree.
After becoming an accredited energy consulter at 'the German federal office for economics and technology', Roland set up his own company, 'Schneider Energy Consultation'. His services to customers include reducing their energy costs, writing expert opinions and handing out the European ‘building energy passports’.
Not long after hearing about the Climate Change problem some years ago, Roland began looking for a different kind of lifestyle. Whilst searching for an organisation supporting him in his final thesis about solar cookers, he heard about the Greenheart movement. After staying at ‘La Casita Verde’ for a couple of weeks in 2006, he had no doubts about wanting to stay longer, something which he achieved with a return in early 2007 in the role of director of solar energy.
His tasks as a director at La Casita Verde are engineering new energy related projects as well as improving and maintaining existing electrical installations. His personal goals with Greenheart are reducing the Fossil Fuels" target="new">Carbon footprint of the ecological centre as much as possible.
Aside from solar engineering, Roland loves to play Frisbee, especially on a nice summer day, is interested in Martial Arts and Asian cultures, likes to talk about philosophy and believes in the motto 'life is a beach'.
