how factories measure and evaluate their environmental performance, year over year. The Higg FEM is designed to:
- Measure and quantify the sustainability impacts of a facility
- Reduce redundancy in measuring and reporting sustainability performance
- Drive business value through reducing risk and uncovering efficiencies
- Create a common means and language to communicate sustainability to stakeholders
Assessment Metadata
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| id | The unique identifier for the assessment — e.g. femsurvey:7e1afda7-46fd-49cc-90ad-c0aed4aa5401 | string |
| statusHistory | Array of dates for the most status transition for status | array |
| status | The current status for the assessment — NS, ASI, ASC, VRP, VRQ, VRE, VRC, VRF, VRD, VRI, ASD | string |
| version | The type and version of the assessment — e.g. fem2022, fem2023, fslm, brm2022 | string |
| accountId | The UUID of the account that owns the assessment | string |
| accountName | The name of the account that owns the assessment | string |
| sacId | The short ID (Higg/Worldly ID) of the account that owns the assessment | string |
| country | The name of the country in which the account is located | string |
| selfPosted | Indicates if the self-assessment has been completed and posted | Boolean |
| verifiedPosted | Indicates if the verified-assessment has been completed and posted | Boolean |
| verified | Indicates if verification is enabled as an option for the assessment | Boolean |
| createdOn | The unix timestamp when the assessment was created in Worldly | timestamp |
| lastUpdated | The unix timestamp when the assessment was last updated | timestamp |
| location | An array of location attributes, such as address, placeid, and lat/long | array |
| oarId | Optional open supply hub identifier for the account that owns the assessment | string |
| ffcId | Optional FFC id for the account that owns the assessment | string |
| taxId | Optional tax identifier for the account that owns the assessment | string |
| socialCreditId | Optional Chinese social credit id for the account that owns the assessment | string |
| customId | Optional custom identifier for the account that owns the assessment, as provided by the account who the assessment has been shared with | string |
| parentCompanyId | The UUID of the account that is identified as the parent to the account that owns the assessment | string |
| parentCompanyName | The name of the parent company account | string |
| parentCompanySacId | The short ID of the parent company account | string |
| v1Verified | Boolean | |
| tags | An array of custom text strings for the assessment, as provided by the account who the assessment has been shared with | array |
| statusNotes | string | |
| verifierBodyName | The name of the verifier company | string |
| verifierType | The type of verification | string |
| verifierStartDate | The date on which verification started | date |
| verifierEndDate | The date on which verification ended | date |
| questions | An array of all the question responses for the entire assessment | array |
| performance | An array of just the selected performance fields | array |
| scores | An array of the scores and level achievements | array |
| usage | An array of calculated outputs, based on responses to questions. For example, total energy or water use. | array |
| focus_areas | An array of the indicators that were identified as areas of focus, based on the assessment responses | array |
| verification_details | An array of fields with details about the verification for the assessment | array |
FEM Content
The specific questions, option lists, and calculated outputs vary between FEM versions. For the full data dictionary for FEM 4.0 / FEM 2023, for a list of what has changed between FEM 3.0 and FEM 4.0, or for other resources about FEM content please reference the documents from this page. For a list of what has changed between FEM 3.0 and FEM 4.0, please see this file.Due to the significant changes with FEM 4.0, there are some refIDs from FEM 3.0 that are not longer direct questions within FEM 4.0. To support some level of backwards compatibility, some additional transformations have been added to be able to continue to map a subset of FEM content into the legacy CSV V2 data export.Currently, these calculated outputs are only used to populate values returned in the Bulk CSV.
Performance
This is a curated dataset with simplified and readable column names, normalized across FEM versions. It contains key metadata, facility classifiers, scores, and quantitative values. For a list of the fields included in this dataset, please see this file. This dataset can be retrieved as a CSV stream via the FEM Performance CSV API, and also by using the ‘performance’ key im the include array via the FEM Module Data API For legacy documentation about this dataset, see this pdf.Scores and Levels
For the FEM Module Data API, you may include the ‘scores’ key in the include array. When this is requested, the ‘scores’ key will be populated in the results. The format of this result contains data for overall score, section level scores, and per question scores. If no verified data is available, the verified score will not be populated.GHGs (Greenhouse Gases)
For the FEM Module Data API, you may include the ‘ghg’ key in the include array. When this is requested, the ‘ghg’ key will be populated in the results. The format of this result contains data for all emissions sources and is converted to standard units (liter, kg and MJ) (see How To Higg for more data on this). If no verified data is available, the verified data will not be populated.Resource Usage
For the FEM Module Data API, you may include the ‘usage’ key in the include array. When this is requested, the ‘usage’ key will be populated in the results. The format of this result contains data for all resource usage metrics and is converted to standard units (liter, kg and MJ). For FEM 4.0, this also includes subtotal calculations. If no verified data is available, the verified data will not be populated.Focus Areas
For the FEM Module Data API, you may include the ‘focus_areas’ key in the include array. When this is requested, the ‘focus_areas’ key will be populated in the results. Being able to quickly pin point critical hotspots in your supply chain empowers you to take action sooner. For example, facilities who have indicated they were not in compliance with local permits may need a corrective action plan. For the FEM, there are two main levels for Focus Areas:- Critical Risks: Those questions that cover basic legal compliance statuses for facilities, including: facility operating licenses, environmental permits, governmental violations, and other general compliance questions.
- Areas of Opportunity: While many FEM questions can be defined as key areas of opportunity, those flagged in this level adhere closely to SAC’s current scoring methodology and the general organization of questions in FEM, and they typically refer to the main question within a given section (or page title) scoring rules.