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Would a roof manufacturer specifically only sell dark roofing materials? Why would they not also sell lighter / reflective materials? This seems like a fucking stupid way to run a business.
The black stuff is tar, so based on crude oil. This is just oil lobbying by another name.
Maybe they’re also selling HVAC systems lmfao
Follow the money
Actually, you're not off track. The same oil companies that provide this tar also provide fuel for power plants. Hot buildings means more need for HVAC which means more power consumption. It's a double win for them (and a double lose for the planet and the consumer).
This wouldn't surprise me
Especially since white elastomeric roofing is more expensive (the upsell) than basic black tar.
I work in the chemical industry and the answer is black platics and coatings can be made way cheaper than light ones because they don't have to be as pure and can be made from lower quality feedstocks and such. Light or clear plastics must be of a higher purity because impurities will usually show up as colored specks that look ugly. For an application like this, impurities aren't a big deal and won't really be hazardous, so it's a win win since it's cheaper for everyone. It would be a waste to make dark coatings from the same base as light coatings in an application like this because you'd need to remove colored impurities only to just add in a dark pigment anyway. If you don't offer the lighter colored coatings or white coatings, you can manufacture your dark coatings cheaper by not having production lines with the extra purification and cleaning steps that would be required to offer those. That's why they only sell dark materials.
The answer is always money
You know I just thought about this for a second longer. Maybe you could just get them to stop by convincing them that people are more likely to replace a lighter colored roof sooner because defects and wear are more visible
Lighter coloured roofs actually last longer
That’s great, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s easier to sell a roof to a person when you can point out all of its flaws from the ground.
It doesn't matter what colour the roof is, you aren't seeing a commercial flat roof from the ground.
You’re right, and I didn’t notice the first time I skimmed the article that this is only mainly affecting commercial roofing, so thanks for the perspective!