Higg FEM Submission and Verification: What to Check, What to Expect video (1 hr)

Hello, and welcome to today's session. My name is Leah Jaggars, I'm the senior education manager here at Worldly. And today we're going to talk about the Higg FEM twenty twenty five, the submission process and verification, and what to check and what to expect. So before we get into the bulk of today's webinar, just a few notes for housekeeping. All attendees are muted for the duration of the webinar. We'll have plenty of time for questions at the end though, so please go ahead and submit your questions throughout the presentation as you have them so that they are captured in the Q and A box. As long as they're captured there, even if I can't get to it live during today's session, I can follow-up via email if it's captured in that box. This session is being recorded. I will share the recording and the slide deck with all registrants afterwards. I'll also be sharing some helpful links throughout today's session as well, and those will also be included in the follow-up email. If you have ever attended a session where you have not received a follow-up email, do let me know. Should be getting them, but sometimes they can trigger some spam filters. So if you are having that problem, please do not hesitate to reach out. Also, there are translated closed captions available in the CC icon. If you click that, you can select your language of choice. Excuse me. So where are you right now? And I'm launching a quick poll and you'll have a few different options. You can either be not really submitting FEM twenty twenty five, either preparing for a future submission. You might be actively working on your assessment, you might have already posted it, but not yet in verification, posted and verification is started, posted and verification is complete, or something else. And while folks are answering, if you are in that planning ahead stage, this should be helpful for both parts because we'll go over things that you should check before submitting, as well as what the verification process will look like. If you're still editing or kind of in the completion phase and not have not yet posted or if we you're in your sixty day edit window, part one of this session will be really helpful because it focuses on how to do a quality review before you submit. And And then if you've already posted and verification might be in progress, we'll cover what to expect and how to prepare for verifier follow-up. Alright. So thank you so much for answering that question, and I'll just share this result so everybody can kind of see where everybody is. So a lot of you have already posted and verification is complete. So this might be more helpful to kind of know next steps so we can also talk about that as well. All right. Thank you so much for sharing. So like I said, what are we covering today? So part one will be a pre submission quality review. This will not be exhaustive. So I just want to say that upfront, I'm not going to be talking through every single question for what you should check. That does behoove you to do that before you submit. But I'm going to cover the six patterns behind most verification follow-up. So how to check for those themes before you post, and that will also include a practical checklist that you can use today. Plus, I'll cover two platform tools that help you catch issues before verification starts. Part two will be what to expect in verification. So what happens after you post, what typically triggers verifier questions, and how to submit and how submission quality affects your experience. So what does that whole process look like? And then since there are a good number of you that are post verification, we can also add a little bit of time covering, you know, what to do now. I do want to say upfront though, we have a specific session on that in the next few weeks. So I'll share the training schedule a little bit later, but that is coming up. It does a deeper dive into okay. Now that everything's posted and done, what can you do with your data? How can you use this to progress? Alright. So part one, pre submission quality review. So first, where you want to start is your site information and permit section. So errors in this section can create errors everywhere. There are three values that you're going to want to review first, and there's a very good reason for that. So first is operating days. So you want to make sure that you're using your actual production days, not a default or three hundred and sixty five. You also want to make sure that your full time employees number matches your HR records for the reporting year. And then finally, your production volume. So make sure that you're checking units as well as quantities. This is the denominator in every intensity calculation. So if you have this incorrect, it can really throw off different values that you see down the road. So why does this trigger data checks? The platform compares your reported values to historical data and benchmarks. So both your own historical data and then what is, you know, typical for a facility, you know, that does similar things. So it will flag if there's anything that looks off. So if you have incorrect number of operating days or production volume, that can make accurate data look like it's an outlier. And I'll show you a specific example of this towards the end during a little bit of a demonstration time. So, again, the reference IDs that you want to check are SIP operating days, SIP full time employees, and SIP facility annual prod vol. But in short, operating days, full time employees, and production volume. Alright. Theme number one, did you find every source? So missing a source in any of the different categories creates cascading errors across the session section. So for example, if you didn't notice that you do use diesel for backup generators because it's something that's used infrequently, during verification, a verifier might see that and go, oh, hey, you do use diesel. Therefore, you didn't answer, you know, x y z questions about that and I have to mark that inaccurate. So if you aren't identifying your sources upfront, these things can create those downstream consequences where you didn't answer required questions because you didn't capture that source. So some common examples would be in the energy section, diesel, or any sort of fuel type that you use for backup generators or infrequently used equipment or processes. Maybe liquid petroleum gas or natural gas that's used in cafeterias or in canteens. Maybe coal that's only used during peak season. Steam purchased from your industrial park. So sometimes that can be missed because it's embedded in your, you know, contract with the industrial park, for example, and it's not as easily pulled out of that particular invoice. And then finally, company vehicles and forklifts can be commonly overlooked. In the water and wastewater section, excuse me, you can have different water sources and maybe not be aware of that. So maybe you are using groundwater or surface water or capturing rainwater for the purposes of landscaping, etcetera. So making sure that you have a full accounting of that is important along with rainwater harvesting systems, also identifying domestic wastewater and then any canteen toilet or office water that's tracked separately. And then in the waste and chemical sections, this can just be, you know, the differentiation between waste streams. So having textile, plastic, and carton streams that are either not tracked individually or captured, in a general waste stream. Also, commonly missed thing is spot cleaners and commodity chemicals are often not captured in the chemical section, which can then lead to that issue where you didn't answer required questions. And then wastewater treatment sludge and domestic sludge is frequently missed entirely. So in some cases, the person filling out the assessment may not be aware of on-site sludge treatment or how domestic sludge is treated. For example, if it goes to a septic tank, that might be something that they miss. So those are some things to be aware of. Again, not exhaustive, so definitely one thing that I recommend is do a walk through of the facility in total before you submit. That can help you identify, you know, especially after you've gone through all the questions, potentially identify some different things that you didn't think of when you were originally filling it out and then go, oh, we actually do have a rainwater harvesting system. I need to capture that. So that's theme number one. Alright. Theme number two. Did you check quantities and units? So a complete version of an answer is the source is selected and the quantity is entered. So for every source or waste stream that you're selecting, confirm a corresponding quantity is entered with the correct units. Also, a commonly missed thing is not defining how you're calculating or estimating different aspects of your data. So in certain examples, there is you are allowed to estimate, you are allowed to calculate, but you do need to provide the documentation for how you're doing those calculations. So some examples of that would be your textile waste. If you have general textile waste, maybe you can estimate the different composition of that waste and you but you didn't define the estimation method. Perhaps in the energy section, did select diesel as a vehicle fuel, but you missed it as a production fuel source because you have a backup generator. So these can be different things where you you did capture it in one sense, but not in total. Maybe in the water section, you have the municipal water source selected and the quantity is tracked, but the unit of measure was selected incorrectly. And so that can throw volumes off by a lot. So as a result, this will make the assessment look complete, but sub questions are inaccurate or they have incomplete documentation. And this is one of the highest volume verification issues is, you know, just misunderstanding how to document things or not providing the documentation that allows a verifier to go, oh, okay. That makes sense. That number then, therefore, also makes sense. Alright. Theme number three, do your numbers add up? So the platform checks your data before you post and so do the verifiers. So one aspect that you're seeing in this short video on the side is before posting, the platform will automatically flag energy, water, and waste values that are statistically unusual compared to either your history or facility benchmarks. So yellow flags, as you see in this particular short video, are outliers that you must review and confirm before you submit. So you're allowed to submit them, but it's just like a, maybe take another look at this. This number looks odd. Red validations on the other hand, block posting entirely until corrected. And these are going to be values that are statistically impossible like billions of wastewater or, you know, billions of production volume for a really short period of operating time. So how do you respond to these flags? Like I said in the beginning, many of these flags are caused by the wrong values in the site information and permit section. So the operating days and the production volume rather than the wrong consumption data. So that's why I recommend taking a look at that section first to make sure that that is accurate so that you're correcting the root cause and not just the symptom. And then if the value is genuinely correct, just check the box and then you can add a brief comment explaining why. And that will move the flag to reviewed and it does not block your posting. And I'll show you a good example of this during our short period for the demonstration. And then I'm also sharing the outlier guide on how this works in FEM in the chat now. Alright. The next theme is double check your applicability questions. So a wrong answer here can affect scoring across the entire section. So as a reminder, applicability questions are that first set of questions generally within each section that helps the assessment configure itself so that you're answering questions that are relevant to you. So some examples of that are going to be your facility type and processes that you selected in the site information and permits section. So if you misclassify yourself, this can hide required questions entirely or show in applicable ones. So if you do roll forward from a previous year, you'll want to make sure that you're reconfirming these answers. Do not assume that they are still correct, especially if, you know, you weren't the last person who completed it or if there's been significant change at your organization. Secondly is a very common, section where this occurs is the chemical section. So specifically, the question around minimal chemical use, which the reference idea is chem minimal. This was the highest inaccuracy question in the chemical section for FEM twenty twenty four. So that was four hundred or four thousand plus assessments had this marked inaccurate. So if your facility uses production operations or spot cleaner chemicals, you answer no to this question. The amount does not matter. So answering yes to this question incorrectly hides required chemical management system questions. So you'll want to make sure that you're reviewing the guidance carefully before answering this question. And this is one of those applicability questions in the chemicals section itself. And I'm sharing a couple links as well in the chat. And don't worry, this will also be in the follow-up email. So the first is the link to the chemical management section guidance generally on HowtoHigg. And then the second link is to a recorded webinar session where we did a deep dive into the chemicals section in particular. So check those out if you have any questions or want to know more there. Alright. Theme number five, do your yes answers have proof? So the most common finding is a yes answer with nothing to support it. So here's a few different high documentation gaps, but this is applicable towards any question that you're saying yes to if you're not providing source documentation or examples. So the kind of top examples are leak monitoring. So you might have monitoring happening, but if you don't have a record of that process, even a simple one going, hey, we, you know, walk the facility on a monthly basis, checking our pipes, etcetera, then a verifier can't validate that that's an ongoing process. So you might say yes, but if you don't have documentation for it showing what that looks like and ideally showing evidence of that occurring on a regular basis, then it's difficult to support that yes answer. Next is employee training. So this is a cross cutting question that goes across a bunch of different sections. So for example, hazardous waste training versus environmental management training. So anywhere that there's an employee training question, Commonly, records are missing for attendance, frequency of how often these trainings are held, or just generally the training materials or assessment documentation. So generally for any employee training, it's better to provide more documentation of when does this occur? Do you have, you know, newsletters that you're sending out regularly? Do you have e learning that you're supporting people with? Do you have regular just kind of, you know, lectures or different on-site training? And being able to show that with documentation is how you can support the yes answer for those questions. And then a final example is the air source inventory. So generally speaking, people will say, yes, I'm tracking my point source and my fugitive source air emissions, but they might not have a formal documentation showing all of those point sources, all of the different pollutants that are potential there, etcetera. So again, having the documentation, even if it's simple, is often better than not having anything at all. You'll also want to check your permit section, stormwater information, waste and chemical safety files as well, because those are often overlooked. So how to check before you post? For every yes answer with a suggested upload, confirm that you have uploaded a current and relevant document. More documentation is better and will make things move faster. So a note about self assessments. For self assessment, uploads aren't mandatory, but without them, answers cannot be confirmed and therefore your verification may take longer. So even if you didn't upload those during the self assessment, something to think about for year or just moving forward, make sure that you have that documentation available early so that the whole process goes faster. Alright. Excuse me. The next theme is in the EMS section. So do you have the system, not just the practice? So the FEM is checking for documented systems, not just good practices. So this is similar to our last theme, but a little bit different where specifically in the EMS section, was a few places where this cropped up. So the data quality management question. You need to have standard operating procedures, defined roles within that process. How do you do quality assurance to review records? So if you claim that you have a data management or data quality management system, you need to make sure that you're hitting all those points to be able to support that yes answer. So without the documentation there, even if you have accurate data, that particular question to whether or not you have a system cannot be confirmed by a verifier. So a tip is just document who's collecting each data type and how it's reviewed. It does not need to be super complex. The next kind of set of questions is around regulations and permits. So aside from the permits table where you're answering different questions about, you know, do you have a current permit, etcetera, there's a couple questions about how do you keep track of these things within your organization. So one of them is around regulations. So how are you keeping track of different laws and requirements within your particular jurisdiction or local area? And then the second is how do you keep track of your existing permits as well as when they're up for renewal. So you may have everything in compliance and have all of your permits and they're all good, but if you don't have a system where you're showing like, yep, I keep up to date on this, I'm subs subscribing to this government announcement system or whatever the case may be or even just a simple spreadsheet with permit names, the owners, and the review dates. That's sufficient. So even something simple, that could be your system and just go, hey. When we see a date is coming up, we reach out and renew. It does not need to be complex. And then finally, environmental strategy. So within the question that's about your EMS strategy, it must cover all seven impact areas or modules over a defined multiyear period. So if you have a simple goal list, that generally is not sufficient unless structured as a strategy with defined actions. So for example, you can have, generally, we want to be good at environmental management. That's not really a strategy. If you say, we want to be good at environmental management and we want to reduce our overall energy usage by twenty five percent in the next three years, here's some examples of how we're going to try to do that. That's a strategy. So just make sure that you're kind of building those out, and I do recommend reviewing the guidance for documentation examples and requirements for each of these questions. So if you do have any questions about them, the guidance is very comprehensive. And so even if you don't have one right now, it can be really helpful just to review that and go, oh, that's all I was missing. I didn't have, you know, for example, a quality assurance step in my data quality management system, for example. In addition, I'm sharing a link in the chat to the EMS session as well, where we do a deeper dive during a webinar into all of the questions in that section as well. Alright. So finally, two platform features that you can use before you post. You can also use this throughout the year. So if you, you know, are trying to make some changes or want to understand more about different questions and how to improve things for next year, you can also use some of these features. So first off is the outlier detection that I already mentioned. So I'll show you that in just a moment, but the yellow flags indicate values that differ significantly from your historical data and then the red is blocking it entirely until it gets fixed. Again, here, reminder, a lot of these end up being triggered by inaccuracy in the site information and permit section. So correct your operating days or production volume first, then recheck the flag. And then secondly is the AI assistant. So this is available in the assessment via via the AI assistant icon. So I'll show you both of those in just a moment. But I do want to note for the AI assistant, it does not see your data. So it's answering questions about FEM guidance and related guidance like ZDHC, the greenhouse gas protocol, etcetera, but it does not see your data to be able to give you specific answers about your data. So it is a support tool and not a verification check. So for outlier detection, here's an example of how it will look. You'll see the flag, and then there'll be links to the different things that look off. And it will give you a note, hey, this is why this looks off. You might want to double check this. And then you can check that box, and then it will let you add a note. In this case, because I changed the value, it then ended up loading and not needing to actually be confirmed. But that's an example, and I'll show you how that SIP particular example affects it during the demo as well. And then second is the Worldly Assistant. So this is linked wherever you see that little question mark icon with the sparkle. You can ask it questions in your language of choice. So and it will respond to you in that language. This is available in FEM, FSLM, and Facility Data Manager. So you can ask questions about, hey, you know, for example, how do I estimate my textile waste composition? And it will pull the data and the guidance from all of the guidance documentation that we have and give you an answer. It is an AI assistant, so obviously it can make mistakes. So if you're ever concerned about that, feel free to reach out to us via the support team and we're happy to help. But I found it to be very, very helpful, especially when you're like, hey, this is my particular situation. Can you help me understand how I should answer this question within the assessment based on that? So and it could also give you some ideas on how you can calculate and estimate different things that you might be doing in the FEM. Alright. So pre submission quality review. Here's a very, very quick checklist. I'm sharing a link to a document in the chat now. This will also be included in the follow-up. This is basically just a quick version of what we've talked about so far with a quick kind of checklist style review. So this will be included in the follow-up email as well. But basically, six things you want to check before you post, site information and permits. Make sure your operating days, employees, and production volume are correct. Review all your yellow outlier flags. Correct the root causes first. Every yes should have an upload that is current and relevant to the question at hand. For every source and waste stream that you select, you'll want to make sure that your quantity entered and the unit is accurate. Double check your applicability questions, especially in the chemical section and facility type in the site information section because answering these incorrectly can prevent you from answering required questions. And then finally, in the EMS section, document the system behind the practice, not just the practice itself. So hopefully that document is helpful if you are currently in the process, and feel free to also use that next year if you're planning to complete an upcoming FEM. Alright. So if you need to make changes after posting, you have sixty days from the day of your first post. So if you post, then you have this sixty day window where you can un post, make changes to your assessment, and then repost at any time within that sixty day period. You can use this window to correct outlier flags, add any missing documentation, or fix your applicability errors. You may unpost and post within the sixty day window, but after that, changes cannot be made without request. So after sixty days, unposting will require a formal request. You'll want to contact your verification body or submit a request to the support team through the platform. Changes are generally only permitted for confirmed inaccuracies in quantitative data. So in your energy, water, waste, greenhouse gas, or wastewater volume data. This cadence did remove the April thirtieth hard cutoff. So brand partners now set their own deadlines. So you want to check with your brand contacts on their requirements. If they did send you a request through the platform, their particular date should be visible to you also within the platform as well. Alright. Let's get into part two. So what to expect in verification. This is a diagram of the whole verification process. So after self assessment, typically, most facilities will get their assessment verified, although this is technically optional. So we recommend checking with your business partners on their requirements or if you're desiring to share your scores or anything like that externally, verification is something that you'll want to do. Verification is the process of another party reviewing the FEM assessment for completeness, accuracy, and quality assurance. Verification can be done on-site or off-site by an approved verification body, and the verifier will input their notes into the platform, which you'll receive as a report for your review. You can learn more about the Higg FEM verification protocol, guidance on the process, and steps to complete on Cascale's website in the resource that I'm sharing now. But if we take a look at this diagram, once you get through self assessment, then you'll go through this process. So you'll start to reach out to verifying bodies. Some of you have already done this. You'll select the verifying body that you want to work with, then you assign that in Worldly, and then they complete the verification on Worldly. And then that goes through QA, and then they review after QA, and then so on and so forth. There is a dispute and resolution process. So I'll be sharing a few different resources where you can learn more about that. But this is kind of the overall process in a diagram. Alright, so what happens after you post? Posting is not the end, it's just the start of the verification process if you're choosing to go through that. So after you're posting your after posting and you've selected your verification body, your assessment is then visible to your verifier. They review documents, flag any questions that need clarification, complete any on-site activities if required, and request additional evidence before issuing a result. Timelines vary by verification body and arrangement. So contact your verification body directly for status updates. So quick clarification because I know this can be very confusing. So what does Worldly and Cascale own and what do we not when it comes to verification? So Worldly provides the platform, so the software platform where you're submitting data and the verification happens. Cascale is setting the FEM methodology, so all of the questions and the way that they're captured on the back end. Sumerra is the owner of verification body program. So they're the ones that kind of review verification body applications and all of that. And then the verification body itself conducts the review. Verification body is just another name for verifying company or an auditing company, if that's easier to think of it that way. So timeline communication and follow-up are managed by the verification body and not Worldly. However, if you are having any platform related issues, please do not hesitate to contact Worldly support at support dot worldly dot I o. So again, platform issues, totally within Worldly's wheelhouse, but if you're having questions or concerns or anything like that about the actual verification itself ongoing, you know, speak with your verifier or even Sumerra in that case. I'm also sharing a couple documents that are super helpful, think, for understanding what a verifier is going to be looking at and how they approach, you know, what they do. So first is a link to the verifier field guide. This gives a really good scope of how they'll look at like the time ordinance for each question. I'll talk about that in just a moment. The verifier protocol goes over the whole verification process from start to finish. And then finally, the VB list is the verifier body list. So that's the list of active verifiers as well as links off to their websites and all of that good stuff. So like I mentioned, there's new time ordinance for each question. So this is just a way to document when a verifier is looking at this question, what time period are they actually taking into consideration when evaluating the accuracy of the answer. So these are all visible as a tag on every level one question in the platform. First is reporting. This is going to cover the reporting year only. So January first through December thirty first. Verifiers will look at records from the reporting period only and current conditions are not assessed. So some typical examples for this will be your energy, water, and waste quantities, you know, emission factor documentation and different greenhouse gas calculations. So things that happened during the reporting period. Second is reporting in current. This covers the reporting year data and checks that current conditions are still consistent. If anything changed since the reporting year, the verifier flags it and adds a comment. It does not automatically mean an inaccurate finding. So some typical examples of this will be your EMS strategy, any training programs you might have, permit monitoring, leak monitoring, etcetera, as well as like chemical inventory processes. And then finally, current. This covers conditions observed at the facility at the time of verification. So verifiers will assess what is in place right now, not what was in place during the reporting year. These are going to be things that will have to be in operation all the time in order for you to claim them. So these are going to be things like chemical hazard signage, PPE or protective equipment availability, designated waste and chemical storage areas, stormwater prevention controls, and valid operating licenses. And just as a reminder, the verifier field guide that I linked earlier has all of the questions listed with their relevant time ordinance if you just want kind of a quick reference guide on that. Alright. So what typically triggers verifier follow-up? So part one, we cover the causes. Here's what it ends up looking like from the verifier side. So as they're making their way through reviewing all of the answers, missing documentation. So that speaks to that yes answer without having any uploaded files or records that hold up to review. So, again, ensure every yes has a corresponding verified file upload that is relevant and explains, you know, any calculations, any estimations that you're doing for a particular metric, or make sure that it's hitting all the points that are outlined in the question guidance. Next are scope gaps. So not tracking all of your or not accounting for rather all of your energy sources, water sources, waste streams, or chemical types that are missing from the assessment entirely. So again, just verifying all of those things and making sure that you've done a comprehensive walkthrough and are capturing all of those. Even if you are not tracking them, you can say, have this as a source, but I am not tracking it. And that's fine. But it's better to say, I know that we use this in some way, but I don't know the quantities that we used because then at least you know that you have it and that's something that you can work towards is actually capturing the data and measuring in the future. Next is inaccurate quantities. So a source or waste stream is selected, but the quantity field is inaccurate or uses the wrong units. So, you know, if you're reporting in megajoules, make sure that you're selecting megajoules. If you're reporting in liters, make sure that you selected that as a unit. And if you're doing any calculations to get to a particular unit, make sure that that's also documented as well. And then finally, site information and permits accuracy. So again, those three main things that you want to check-in that section, wrong operating days, production volume, or employee count can throw off other metrics that will trigger those data checks. All right. So what does this really mean for you? Submission quality directly affects your experience. So this is the part of verification that's entirely within your control. So what does a higher follow-up verification look like? Inaccurate quantities, missing documentation. This will mean that verifiers have to request more evidence after the fact. Each round of follow ups adds days or weeks to the timeline and requires reengagement from facility staff. So if you can provide as much upfront documentation as possible, that will make this entire process go a lot more smoothly. So multiple back and forth rounds before you actually get your verified FEM. So a lower follow-up, what this looks like, a complete submission that has all of that evidence, has been double checked for quality, has the different processes documented, etcetera, supports all those yes answers. The verifier can then review the evidence immediately and they don't have to wait for documentation. In some cases, this can also support doing an off-site entirely verification and then just doing that final bid via video, for example. So if you provide a lot of documentation, it can actually reduce costs as well because you're not taking as much time to complete the verification. So there's fewer questions, faster review, faster verified results. So it's the same data but better organized. The pre submission checklist that I shared in part one is the most direct path to a lower follow-up experience. So make sure that you're double checking all of those things and validating that you have all your documentation. All right, I don't want to beat you over the head with this. So again, check your site information and permit section. Check your sources and quantities. Double check all your outliers. If it's being flagged, it's being flagged for a reason. So double check your root causes. Reread applicability questions to make sure that you understand them and are answering them correctly. Every yes answer needs evidence. And then finally, in the EMS section, document the system, not just the practice. Alright. With that, let me go ahead and pop out of here, and I'll answer some questions and show the platform. Alright. So this is the main section that I kind of wanted to share, but just a couple things. If I go back to my main dashboard, if you are relatively new to Worldly, in the upper right hand corner, this is where you can access multiple accounts if you have access to them. This is also where you can request to join more accounts. You can update your subscription, or you can add users to your account. There's no user limit. So if you do have more people that want to contribute data, that's a really helpful way to kind of share the burden, share the responsibility of keeping track of this. So that's all within this upper right hand corner. The world icon is where you can translate the platform. And then the question mark icon, this is where you can access all of our help documentation. So the help center contains written documentation that's going to be step by step instructions, short videos, the recorded webinars, all of those good things. The learning center is where you can access elearning. This is currently available to all Worldly users free of charge. It's included in your subscription. And we've got now a lot, like, hundred plus courses. So ranging from just sustainability topics to deeper dives into each product, or you can reach out to our support team via chat or by submitting a ticket. But let's go ahead and go into my FEM. Alright. So I currently have not posted this yet. So I'm currently in view edit. If you have posted, but you're still within that sixty day window where it says submit post assessment, this becomes an unpost option. So if you're within that sixty day window, this is where you can unpost and then you can go back in and view and edit. So just be aware of that. This is also where you can select your verifying body. So it's on this overview page. If you are in the assessment itself, you've gone into view edit, that overview page is also just available in this upper tab right here. So in my particular FEM, I've got everything filled out, but I've got these outliers and they're saying, hey, there's these four different aspects that you need to look at. I'm going to go ahead and look at the first option because it's saying, hey, your normalized energy usage appears high for this facility type. So, okay, let's say that that's accurate. But now that we know that those values that appear in the site information and permits section can affect that, I'm actually going to look at my volume and we see that my volume is very, very low. I forgot two zeros. So I'm going to add the correct amount and now we'll see that it's saving that and then it's double checking for outliers again. It might take a second because this is in staging, but now I don't have any outliers. So that simple update of whoops, I had the totally wrong number for just my facilities volume, that was causing all four of those outlier triggers. So that's particularly why you should double check the values that you have in this section. And then secondly is the assistant. So this is where you can ask different questions, you know, for example, how can I estimate or calculate my different compositions of textile waste in the Higg FEM? You can ask this question or any question really in the language of your choice, and then it will respond to you in that language using the guidance. So it will say like, hey. I don't have a specific calculation method, but it does offer general estimation principles that you can apply. So it gives you some examples, and then it's also linking you off to the particular guidance that it's pulling that information from. So you can read over that and then help hopefully, that helps you as you're answering some more specific questions as you're going through. Alright. So I'm going to take a look at these questions. Let's see. So the first question I see is for the question in wastewater. Does your facility have zero liquid discharge? Alright. So regarding the issue of the wastewater module, if the factory only discharges domestic wastewater and no production wastewater is generated or discharged, is the answer to this question no or yes correct? As explained in the Higg FEM guidelines, a facility is considered to have a ZLD treatment system if there is no industrial liquid discharge of industrial wastewater, even if there is discharge of domestic wastewater. Alright, so let's go ahead and look at this question. Yeah, so if I mean, in that case, if you if the factory only discharges domestic wastewater and no production wastewater is generated or discharged. So in this particular question, that's actually a good question. Let's look at the longer form guidance for this. Because I think the key is going to be the generation part. Okay, so let's go up here. Oh, jeez, where did it go? There we go. So ZLD is a type of on-site treatment that is designed so that no water leaves the facility in liquid form. A facility with on-site ZLD treatment system, almost all wastewater is treated and recovered such that the only water discharged from the facility exists by evaporation or as moisture in the sludge from treatment plant operations. And there's more information from ZDHC. So a facility is considered to have a ZLD treatment system if there is no industrial liquid discharge of industrial wastewater, even if there is discharge of domestic wastewater. So if we look at this question, the first question would be if you're not generating industrial wastewater, make sure that you answer no to this first question. So based on how you phrased the question, if you only discharge domestic and no production wastewater is generated or discharged, you'll want to say no here. And then based on the guidance stating that you can have discharge of domestic wastewater, then you can say yes to this question. There will be more questions around your ZLD system and everything like that, so just be aware of that. But it also, you know, may not really make sense for you to answer that question if you do not have industrial wastewater. Because if you don't have industrial wastewater and you only have domestic wastewater, you don't really have a zero liquid discharge system because there's no industrial wastewater to treat, if that makes sense. So depending on your particular situation, that's how I would think about it. But definitely reach out to support if you have some nuances there or, you know, need to provide some more clarification. So just something to be aware of it. That's kind of a part two or two part question where you want to make sure you're answering this part correctly. And then if you don't have any industrial wastewater, you probably don't really have this type of system. So hopefully, that answers your question and didn't make it more confusing, but I hope that helps. Alright. The next question that I see is regarding the EMS section question four, does your organization have a set of company environmental management strategies to guide long term let me find it. I'm just going to search strategy. There we go. That guides long term decision making on environmental management. So the question is, if the factory's emission reduction targets do not cover all seven modules, but the covered modules already include medium and long term emission reduction plans and action plans. Can this be answered with yes or must it be answered as partially yes? So let's go ahead and look. So answer yes if you have a documented environmental strategy in place that sets forth environmental priorities include includes defined goals and actions for three years or longer. So you'll want to make sure that that is captured. And then there's some notes about if you are aligning with ISO fourteen thousand and one, you should probably answer yes to this question. And then three years timeline must include the FEM reporting year. So that's also something to be aware of. So the partial yes would be if your facility has an environmental strategy that's less than three years or sets forth environmental priorities and goals for three or more years, but it does not include defined actions that the facility plans to take to achieve the goals. So for example, if your facility has a goal to reduce energy by thirty percent over three years, but has not defined the specific actions required to achieve this reduction, you would answer partial yes. So based on the way you said, factory's emission reduction targets do not cover all seven modules, but the covered modules already include medium and long term emission reduction and action plans. So double check the long version of this guidance. It will outline all of the modules in more detail here. So it will have, like, the actual ISO standard that this is based off of as well as some helpful information from the EMAS. And then you also want to look at, you know, what is the documentation that a verifier will be looking for. And then based on that, answer partial yes. So it's not that your reduction targets necessarily have to cover all seven modules because some of those modules aren't necessarily like emissions related, Like chemicals isn't necessarily related to that. So, yeah, take a look at this a little bit deeper dive and then based on that and whether or not it's either three years or longer or if you're not if you don't have action plans behind those goals, then you would answer partially yes. Alright. Oh, this question is a little bit unrelated to this topic today, but I will let you know what to do. So this question is, could you please advise how to apply for an FFC account ID for a new factory? So the URL for applying for an FFC account redirects to Worldly, and we're currently unable to locate where to apply for a new FFC ID on Worldly. So this is a separate kind of topic. There is a section in our help content here where you can find all of kind of the information there. However, let me see which one might help you the most. This is more about how to create an account. So search for FFC. I think there's some information, but if you have to create a new account, I think the best bet here I don't have the direct link off the top of, like, right available right now, but I would reach out to support, and they'll be able to point you in the right direction. So if you go to this little question mark, you can either chat with them. They're available generally in Asia hours. So if you are located in Asia, they're probably available now. And then you or alternatively, you can submit a support request. So I don't know off the top of my head the correct link for that. But if you submit a ticket, they'll be able to point you in the right direction. And apologies that I don't have that off the top of my head. Alright. The next question is regarding the issue of spot cleaners. When it comes to emissions in the air and chemicals, the use of spot cleaners is involved. As I understand it, please help clarify. In the air module, spot cleaners, this refers to all spot cleaners that are involved in VOCs during operation and production. In the chemicals module, spot cleaners, this is only for cleaning The spot cleaners for these two modules are not necessarily related. They can exist independently. Can I understand it this way? Alright, so let's take a look. So in air emissions, the initial section of this air emission section, all of these questions of like yes or no if you have different processes is applicability questions. So based on how you answer these questions, let me just go ahead and say, like, no to everything except for that spot cleaners question. Because with spot cleaners, generally, that's VOCs. So volatile organic compounds, like you said. And let me pull all that. No. No. No. No. Alright. So if you do use spot cleaners, you might say yes to this other sources if it's not captured in this particular section. And then there's a few different, like, processes or following substances. So depending on how you answer these questions, there's also questions around solvents and different things like that. So spot cleaners with VOC, this is specifically with VOC. So if you do have a spot cleaner that I can't think of any off the top of my head, but if you use like a non solvent spot cleaner, then potentially that might not fall into this section. So double check if there's volatile organic compounds in your spot cleaner. If you say yes here, that's just indicating that you have some sort of impact there and then it's going to ask you questions about if you're tracking those air emission sources. So I've said no to everything else except for the fact that yeah. Except for the fact that I use spot cleaners that have VOCs. So the expectation then would be if you are using spot cleaners with VOCs in the air emissions section, it should be captured in a air emissions inventory. So that's kind of that piece just so that you have it captured and you're aware of it and it's captured in your inventory if there's any applicable legal requirements regarding air emissions. For example, if in your jurisdiction you have to have proper ventilation when using those particular things for workplace health and safety standards, that's something that you'll have to consider in this section and so on and so forth. Oh, I must have missed the question about refrigerants, but hopefully that helps in the air emission section. And then the chemical section, the spot cleaners is really whether or not you're using minimal chemical use. So here, let me get to that particular spot. So used to remove contaminated spots from final products. So this is more to capture the chemicals that you're using in those spot cleaners. So the air emission side is more that you're capturing your emission sources and have that in an inventory, whereas chemical side is you're capturing that you're using a chemical and you have the proper safety data sheet and all of that kind of stuff captured. So you could use a spot cleaner that does not contain VOCs, and therefore, you would say no in the air emission section, but you would say yes in the chemical section. So hopefully, that makes sense. And then if they do contain VOCs, you'd probably say yes to both sections. So it just depends on the type of spot cleaner that you're using. But hopefully, that helps, and we are right at time. So I hope this was helpful for everyone. I'll be sending everybody the recording as well as all those helpful links and the deck that I shared today. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. Also at the end of this session, there'll be a quick couple question survey that's really helpful for us just to know how we're doing and where we can improve. So if you don't mind taking that, that's super helpful. With that, I appreciate your time and attention today. I hope this was helpful, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. Thank you very much. Have a good one.