In 1993, Doris Duke left behind a 2,700-acre New Jersey estate; 30 years later, the property is being transformed into a laboratory for restoring wetlands, forests and wildlife

A sprawling New Jersey estate once associated with industrialist J.B. Duke and philanthropist Doris Duke is taking on a very different role. Today, Duke Farms is being used as a living laboratory where nature restoration, wildlife conservation and clean energy strategies are tested in real-world conditions, as per a report by the Duke Farms.

The 2,700-acre campus in Hillsborough, New Jersey, contains more than 100 buildings alongside forests, wetlands, agricultural grasslands, meadows and designed landscapes.

Rather than simply discussing sustainability, Duke Farms is putting its ideas into practice, using its own campus to develop approaches that other institutions, communities and landowners can potentially follow.

How is Duke Farms being transformed?

Duke Farms describes itself as a living lab where model strategies are developed for nature restoration, wildlife conservation and the clean energy transition.

The campus is not a simple single-purpose site. Its more than 100 buildings include structures that are many more than 100 years old, while its land includes forests, wetlands, agricultural grasslands, meadows and a designed landscape. More than 150,000 people visit the campus every year.

That combination makes Duke Farms a useful testing ground for the challenges that many campus-based institutions face. Universities, cultural institutions, corporations, healthcare systems, parks and arboreta all have infrastructure, open spaces and operations that need to adapt.

Duke Farms says such institutions can cut greenhouse gas emissions at scale while also demonstrating solutions that others can replicate. Its blueprint is intended to share what the campus has learned and provide a path for others looking to take action.

The campus is a center of the Doris Duke Foundation, which strives to build a more creative, equitable and sustainable future.

What is the Natural Systems Energy Plan?

Through its Natural Systems Energy Plan, Duke Farms has developed a roadmap toward a nature-positive, carbon-negative future.

Its goals are divided into four five-year phases: 100% clean electricity by 2025, an 80% emissions reduction by 2030, carbon neutrality by 2035 and carbon negativity by 2040.

The campus has already achieved its goal of 100% clean electricity on a net annual basis. Between August 2024 and August 2025, Duke Farms reported that it reduced its operating carbon footprint by 25%, representing more than 300 metric tons of CO₂ from its 2023 baseline.

It also switched on a 1.16-megawatt solar array with battery storage. The system powers all facilities on the campus’s primary circuit and helped meet the 2025 clean electricity goal.

The transition has also extended to transportation. Duke Farms electrified additional fleet vehicles and provided what it describes as New Jersey’s only 100% solar-powered fast EV chargers. Those chargers delivered more than 4,000 charging sessions to the public.

Nature restoration is being pursued alongside the energy work. Duke Farms partnered on a 112-acre floodplain reforestation project along the Raritan River, with the aim of maximizing carbon sequestration and improving flood resilience.

How is the campus tackling restoration and resilience?

The work at Duke Farms is built around the idea that clean energy and nature restoration can be pursued together.

Its energy resiliency plan takes a whole-campus approach, looking at everything from electrification to renewable generation. The campus says its experience reflects the complexity faced by many communities because the property combines commercial, residential and agricultural uses across more than 2,700 acres.

The Natural Systems Energy Plan began with a detailed understanding of the campus itself. Duke Farms had spent years working to quantify energy use and its carbon footprint, including a partnership with Rutgers University to measure a comprehensive 100-year campus carbon footprint.

That work showed that natural climate solutions, such as tree planting, together with a small onsite solar array, could not offset the campus’s operating emissions. More significant operational changes were therefore required.

Duke Farms subsequently worked with Gabel Associates to establish detailed 2023 energy-use and carbon-footprint baselines. The process examined more than 100 buildings and structures and tracked energy sources and how those supplies were being used.

The campus then organized its approach around five action steps: establish a baseline, clarify formal goals, identify and prioritize strategies, implement and optimize solutions, and track, visualize and refine the results.

Why does Duke Farms see institutional action as important?

The blueprint comes as campus-based institutions face growing pressure from extreme weather, rising operating costs, biodiversity loss and regulatory demands.

At Duke Farms, the challenges include heavier rainfall events that can damage infrastructure, extreme heatwaves that interrupt operations, rising operational and insurance costs, fire risk, utility costs, maintenance demands and supply chain disruptions.

The campus has responded by establishing three guiding principles for its sustainability work: take responsibility, set a high bar and expand its impact.

That means reducing fossil fuel use, pursuing physical emission and impact reductions, and demonstrating solutions that can be replicated elsewhere.

Duke Farms also acknowledges that the transition is not without obstacles. Solar arrays, battery systems, EVs and electrification projects can require significant upfront investment. The campus addressed financial barriers through federal tax incentives, state clean energy programs, utility partnerships and long-term financial modeling.

Technical challenges have been approached through staff champions, partnerships with universities, manufacturers and utilities, and outside expertise. Cultural resistance has also emerged, particularly around fleet electrification, but staff advocates helped shift perceptions around EVs.

Policy and governance have played a role as well. Duke Farms aligned its goals with state laws and incentive programs while working through regulatory barriers with government officials, utilities and electricity-sector experts.



The larger ambition is to make the lessons from this 2,700-acre campus useful beyond its own boundaries. Duke Farms is using its land, buildings and operations to test what a more resilient and sustainable institution can look like, while working toward its stated goal of becoming carbon negative by 2040.

FAQs

1. What is Duke Farms?
   It is a 2,700-acre living laboratory for nature restoration, conservation and clean energy.
2. What is Duke Farms’ 2040 goal?
   The campus aims to become carbon negative by 2040.