It is crazy. But houses with dark roofs look better, so they sell better. And replacing a roof is very expensive, so no one is going to do that on a new house just for the heat. Further, many new construction houses are in HoA neighborhoods, and HoAs don’t like people to be unique because it “spoils” the uniform look and “decreases” property values. It’s the system working against us. The only solution would be to codify requirements in building codes.
Lighter colors, even if not white, would still reduce absorption and increase reflection. A middle-gray would help, and possibly something with a color tint to it.
