# We buy steam from a neighbouring unit and do not know what fuel makes it: what do we answer in the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM)?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/higg-fem-steam-bought-from-neighbour-unknown-fuel

Answer No to the question on the fuel behind your bought steam. The Higg FEM guide says not knowing the source will not affect your score, performance or level. Still report the tonnes of steam, and ask your neighbour for its pressure and temperature, since the calculations paper uses both to work out heat.

## What the guide asks

- Purchased steam is one of the purchased energy lines. If your facility knows the energy source, the form asks how many separate steam sources, what share each gives, and the pressure and temperature of each.
- If you do not know the energy source, the guide says to select No. It says not knowing will not impact your FEM score, performance or level achievement.
- The 2024 calculations paper says steam cannot be entered by volume; a mass unit lets the form work out heat from pressure and temperature. The guide lists the pressure and temperature questions under the Yes answer, so check whether your form asks for them, and get both figures from your neighbour anyway.

## What to get from the neighbour

1. A monthly statement or meter reading with the tonnes of steam supplied to you.
2. The pressure and temperature of the steam at your gate.
3. If they will tell you, the fuel and its share. Then you can answer Yes and upload a reference document.
4. Whatever you enter should match papers the verifier can see.

## If you also keep a boiler

The two do not mix. Fuel you burn in your own boiler goes on its own fuel line. Steam bought goes only on the purchased steam line. If a contractor runs your own boiler, the guide still wants the boiler fuel reported.

## A neighbour supplies 1,200 tonnes of steam in the year

- Purchased steam: quantity 1,200, unit tonnes (a mass unit)
- Fuel behind the steam: answer No if the neighbour does not tell you
- Pressure and temperature: get both from the neighbour's statement. The paper uses them to work out heat, and the guide lists them under the Yes answer, so check whether your form asks

The quantity is an example.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so fuel for your own boiler is on file by month. Steam you buy from a neighbour comes from their statement, not from a fuel bill, so keep that statement with your records. The self-serve product does not enter anything into the Higg FEM.

- [Higg FEM energy and GHG data](https://senseible.earth/answers/higg-fem-energy-and-emissions-data)
- [CBAM steam from two boilers: verifier evidence](https://senseible.earth/answers/cbam-steam-from-two-boilers-verifier-evidence)
- [Textile industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/textile)

Sources: [Cascale, Higg FEM How to Higg Guide 2026 (English)](https://howtohigg.cascale.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Higg-FEM-How-to-Higg-Guide-2026-October-1st-2026-English-Final.pdf), [Cascale, FEM 2024 Energy and Global Warming Calculations](https://howtohigg.cascale.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FEM-2024-Energy-and-Global-Warming-Calculations.pdf)

Last reviewed 2026-11-07. From the 2026 guide and the FEM 2024 calculations paper. The steam question wording may change by cycle, so check the current form.