In 2005, Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc. (WSSI) built Virginia's first building certified Gold under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. WSSI's site uses a fully-integrated Low Impact Development (LID) design to reduce storm water volumes and peak flow rates through detention, retention, and evapotranspiration. In contrast, a "traditional" site would utilize curb and gutter practices to remove storm water as quickly as possible with no provision for reducing the volume that is discharged. WSSI’s LID design employs a myriad of small-scale Integrated Management Practices (IMP's) to closely mimic the hydrology of a forested site. WSSI's site includes a green roof, an indoor cistern (used to flush toilets), an underground outdoor cistern (used for irrigation), a rain garden, four types of pervious parking surfaces, a bioswale, and extensive native landscaping.

To help quantify the hydrologic benefits of LID, WSSI also installed an automated monitoring system to measure the amount of flow exiting each IMP. Data collected by the monitoring system can be downloaded at this site, and is free for use. The interactive map below provides links to detailed data for all LID practices that have been implemented at the WSSI office facility.

Click any of the subcatchment labels in the map below to access the characteristics table for that subcatchment.