diff --git a/orcid-web/default.env b/orcid-web/default.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..46bb816e8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/orcid-web/default.env
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# defaults and for dev
+# if a value is repeated here in a higher env_file it will be overridden
+JAVA_OPTS=-Xmx256m
+NEW_RELIC_APP_NAME="orcid-web-dev"
+NEW_RELIC_LICENSE_KEY="SETME_ELSEWHERE"
+NEW_RELIC_LOG_FILE_NAME="STDOUT"
diff --git a/orcid-web/deployment.env b/orcid-web/deployment.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6d31c84de3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/orcid-web/deployment.env
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# empty file that is templated by deployment systems
+# docker-compose won't start if this file is missing