[ip26]

Asphalt is black, and a high albedo is hard for anything to maintain with dirt, dust, and age.

[stephen_g]

That’s not it in Australia - we don’t use asphalt roofing. Normal roofs are tile, steel or (more rarely) zinc here.

I think the US is fairly unique in that regard. I’m so used to our houses here that the idea of using shingles made of asphalt just seems bizarre to me.

[Tagbert]

I had assumed that the white color would come from a white granular material impressed into the asphalt base