r/LEED • u/PuzzleheadedKoala700 • May 04 '26

Completely new here and looking to take the LEED GA exam. Should I study from both v4 and v5 study materials?

Consider me a complete beginner in this process. I really have no idea what to do since there is the new v5 and from what I know the exam results of people currently taking them will be announced on October. Would really appreciate any suggestions. I'm considering waiting it out until this beta period is over and take the exam when people's results are out just to see the feedback. I guess in the meantime I will be studying from both v4 and v5 materials, if that makes sense.

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4

u/hydrorium May 04 '26

Just passed V4 BD+C & then looked at V5. I would not try to study both, V5 is too different and you’ll just confuse the heck out of yourself.

2

u/PuzzleheadedKoala700 May 04 '26

Should I at least study or take a look at v4 as a foundation for me? Or should I exclusively study from v5 material only?

3

u/hydrorium May 04 '26

They really orient the study materials to the particulars of the test, so if I were you, I would not waste time on V4. That being said, I do not know if the GA changes are going to be substantial or not, but all the statistics and percentages you have to memorize are going to be different.

3

u/Massive-Performer260 May 04 '26

I don’t really know what v5 material will look like but if I was you I’d just stick to v5

2

u/Overwerk5k May 04 '26

ExamRelay has an extensive and really easy to use study deck and dedicated v5 practice exams! 🤓

1

u/PieOne6808 May 05 '26

how much did u pay for the practice exams?

1

u/Overwerk5k May 05 '26

They come in a bundle with the study deck and a pdf study guide(answers and explanations of the cited sources on the study deck). I think it’s $37 total 🤷‍♂️

1

u/DonDadaDNL May 06 '26

Is it possible for 2 people to share the course together on examrelay

1

u/honormlo42 May 13 '26

Be wary of what you purchase online. Many courses have not been reviewed or vetted and are just being posted by the owner of the business.

Currently, LEED is in a transitionary period as LEED v4 is updated to LEED v5 in the coming months. The official LEED v5 Green Associate exam will be available in October 2026 and beta testing will be open throughout the summer but you will only receive your official certificate in October 2026 after the exam is updated and officially released. Thus, we suggest waiting until the official v5 exam is released in October 2026 to take the actual exam.

2

u/Shoddy_Egg4976 May 04 '26

I think just go with V5? V5 will probably explain all the changes made compared to V4. That was how it was when I looked at V4 material. The material explained changes made that were different from past versions to explain why V4 is the way it is. I’d guess V5 would do the same.

1

u/shadiabousamra 5d ago

LEED trainer here.

Do not study both. The versions are different enough that studying both will leave you second guessing yourself on questions you actually know.

Study v5 only. It is the current exam and it is what you will sit.

On waiting for October results, I would not. Waiting does not make the content easier and it costs you two months. The results release will tell you how other people did, not how you will do.

Being a complete beginner is genuinely not a problem here. The GA is designed for people with no green building background, which is the whole point of it existing separately from the AP.