IMO fake wood with all that real wood would not work. Have you thought about a patio instead of a deck maybe in slate . We have some of our 2300 sq ft of deck quite low to the ground and we do find it needs redoing more often than the rest of it higher off the ground. We used cedar with a solid stain a bit of a pain foo upkeep but suits our house. If I could have afforded it I would have done IPE but our house is not wood so I think it would have worked.

I can't speak to the material you should use, but a light gray might absorb less heat. You could do a portion as a deck where you exit the house and the rest as a stone patio.

There are some shades you can employ.

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I can’t remember the brand we used but we did use a composite decking at our cabin and five years later, I am still very happy with it, we choose a light tan with a smooth surface. Friends used Trek brand with “real wood” type of texture that gathered a ton of pollen, dirt that becsme a maintenance nightmare as mold grew and they were constantly scrubbing it. Also, the dark color was scorching on bare feet.

Since your house will not be wood I think a composite is totally fine.

Wood gets hot too. We have a composite ramp that doesn't get hot. It doesn't look or feel plasticky. Sorry, we built it 20 years ago and I don't know the brand. It's in full sun and gets shovelled in winter, and looks the same as the day we got it.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Hossaon -that is a very nice idea. Thanks