diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3350abb..c4bf67c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -17,9 +17,17 @@ You'll setup a project which will need the following information:
 5. Path to the release file
 6. Script to set release name / version
 
+An optional set of environment strings can be set to define the environment in which the scripts run.
+```
+"environment": [
+"PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/usr/local/go/bin",
+"GOPATH=@dir"
+]
+```
+
 Projects will be defined in a project.json file for now.  I may add a web interface later.
 
-@dir in any of the script strings will be replaced with an absolute path to the current working directory of the specific version being worked on.
+@dir in any of the script strings or environment entries will be replaced with an absolute path to the current working directory of the specific version being worked on.
 ```
 sh ./build.sh @dir
 ```
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 4616cfc..3da48b2 100644
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -2,10 +2,8 @@
 
 dir=$1
 
-export GOPATH=$dir 
-
-echo working dir: $dir
-
 go get -u git.townsourced.com/townsourced/ironsmith
 
+cd $dir/src/git.townsourced.com/townsourced/ironsmith
+
 go-bindata web/... && go build -a -v -o ironsmith
diff --git a/cycle.go b/cycle.go
index 0fc3aac..cfb975a 100644
--- a/cycle.go
+++ b/cycle.go
@@ -94,13 +94,13 @@ func (p *Project) fetch() {
 	}
 
 	//fetch project
-	fetchResult, err := runCmd(p.Fetch, tempDir)
+	fetchResult, err := runCmd(p.Fetch, tempDir, p.Environment)
 	if p.errHandled(err) {
 		return
 	}
 
 	// fetched succesfully, determine version
-	version, err := runCmd(p.Version, tempDir)
+	version, err := runCmd(p.Version, tempDir, p.Environment)
 
 	if p.errHandled(err) {
 		return
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ func (p *Project) build() {
 		return
 	}
 
-	output, err := runCmd(p.Build, p.workingDir())
+	output, err := runCmd(p.Build, p.workingDir(), p.Environment)
 
 	if p.errHandled(err) {
 		return
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ func (p *Project) test() {
 	if p.Test == "" {
 		return
 	}
-	output, err := runCmd(p.Test, p.workingDir())
+	output, err := runCmd(p.Test, p.workingDir(), p.Environment)
 
 	if p.errHandled(err) {
 		return
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ func (p *Project) release() {
 		return
 	}
 
-	output, err := runCmd(p.Release, p.workingDir())
+	output, err := runCmd(p.Release, p.workingDir(), p.Environment)
 
 	if p.errHandled(err) {
 		return
diff --git a/exec.go b/exec.go
index 6399a6d..ebe5a31 100644
--- a/exec.go
+++ b/exec.go
@@ -10,9 +10,13 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 )
 
-func runCmd(cmd, dir string) ([]byte, error) {
+func runCmd(cmd, dir string, env []string) ([]byte, error) {
 	s := strings.Fields(strings.Replace(cmd, "@dir", dir, -1))
 
+	for i := range env {
+		env[i] = strings.Replace(env[i], "@dir", dir, -1)
+	}
+
 	var args []string
 
 	if len(s) > 1 {
@@ -22,6 +26,7 @@ func runCmd(cmd, dir string) ([]byte, error) {
 	ec := exec.Command(s[0], args...)
 
 	ec.Dir = dir
+	ec.Env = env
 
 	vlog("Executing command: %s in dir %s\n", cmd, dir)
 
diff --git a/project.go b/project.go
index e3a7596..c124c28 100644
--- a/project.go
+++ b/project.go
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ The project lifecycle goes like this, each step calling the next if successful
 type Project struct {
 	Name string `json:"name"` // name of the project
 
+	Environment []string `json:"environment"` // Environment for each of the scripts below, if empty will use the current processes environment
+
 	Fetch   string `json:"fetch"`   //Script to fetch the latest project code into the current directory
 	Build   string `json:"build"`   //Script to build the latest project code
 	Test    string `json:"test"`    //Script to test the latest project code