diff --git a/karma.globals.js b/karma.globals.js
index f2903c3..11251d5 100644
--- a/karma.globals.js
+++ b/karma.globals.js
@@ -2,4 +2,5 @@ var ENV = {
   production: 'false',
   api: 'apiRoot',
   irbUrl: 'irbUrl',
+  homeRoute: 'home',
 };
diff --git a/src/environments/environment.runtime.ts b/src/environments/environment.runtime.ts
index 9166476..17a3a9f 100644
--- a/src/environments/environment.runtime.ts
+++ b/src/environments/environment.runtime.ts
@@ -2,14 +2,11 @@ import {AppEnvironment} from 'sartography-workflow-lib';
 
 declare var ENV;
 
-const envHas = (key, temp): boolean => (ENV && (ENV[key] !== null) && (ENV[key] !== undefined) && (ENV[key] !== temp));
+export const _has = (env, key, temp): boolean => env && ![null, undefined, temp, ''].includes(env[key]);
 
 export const environment: AppEnvironment = {
-  homeRoute: envHas('homeRoute', '$HOME_ROUTE') ? ENV.homeRoute : 'home',
-  production: envHas('production', '$PRODUCTION') ? (ENV.production === 'true') : false,
-  api: envHas('api', '$API_URL') ? ENV.api : 'http://localhost:5000/v1.0',
-  irbUrl: envHas('irbUrl', '$IRB_URL') ? ENV.irbUrl : 'http://localhost:5001',
+  homeRoute: _has(ENV, 'homeRoute', '$HOME_ROUTE') ? ENV.homeRoute : 'home',
+  production: _has(ENV, 'production', '$PRODUCTION') ? (ENV.production === 'true') : false,
+  api: _has(ENV, 'api', '$API_URL') ? ENV.api : 'http://localhost:5000/v1.0',
+  irbUrl: _has(ENV, 'irbUrl', '$IRB_URL') ? ENV.irbUrl : 'http://localhost:5001',
 };
-
-
-
diff --git a/src/environments/environment.spec.ts b/src/environments/environment.spec.ts
index 0741512..5d59b5b 100644
--- a/src/environments/environment.spec.ts
+++ b/src/environments/environment.spec.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-import {environment} from './environment.runtime';
+import {_has, environment} from './environment.runtime';
 
+declare var ENV;
 
 describe('Environments', () => {
   it('should have settings for all the environments', () => {
@@ -7,5 +8,40 @@ describe('Environments', () => {
     expect(environment.production).toEqual(false);
     expect(environment.api).toEqual('apiRoot');
     expect(environment.irbUrl).toEqual('irbUrl');
+    expect(environment.homeRoute).toEqual('home');
+  });
+
+  it('should check if environment variables are defined', () => {
+    const env = {
+      homeRoute: '$HOME_ROUTE',
+      production: '$PRODUCTION',
+      api: '$API_URL',
+      irbUrl: '$IRB_URL',
+    };
+
+    expect(_has(env, 'homeRoute', '$HOME_ROUTE')).toBeFalse();
+    expect(_has(env, 'production', '$PRODUCTION')).toBeFalse();
+    expect(_has(env, 'api', '$API_URL')).toBeFalse();
+    expect(_has(env, 'irbUrl', '$IRB_URL')).toBeFalse();
+
+    env.homeRoute = undefined;
+    env.production = undefined;
+    env.api = undefined;
+    env.irbUrl = undefined;
+
+    expect(_has(env, 'homeRoute', '$HOME_ROUTE')).toBeFalse();
+    expect(_has(env, 'production', '$PRODUCTION')).toBeFalse();
+    expect(_has(env, 'api', '$API_URL')).toBeFalse();
+    expect(_has(env, 'irbUrl', '$IRB_URL')).toBeFalse();
+
+    env.homeRoute = 'something';
+    env.production = 'something';
+    env.api = 'something';
+    env.irbUrl = 'something';
+
+    expect(_has(env, 'homeRoute', '$HOME_ROUTE')).toBeTrue();
+    expect(_has(env, 'production', '$PRODUCTION')).toBeTrue();
+    expect(_has(env, 'api', '$API_URL')).toBeTrue();
+    expect(_has(env, 'irbUrl', '$IRB_URL')).toBeTrue();
   });
 });