node-environment-loading-example.js

node bin/server.js // loads development env
NODE_ENV=production node bin/server.js //loads production env!

// config/default.js
exports.development = {
  port: 8012,
  couchDb: {
    db: 'comments',
    host: 'localhost',
    port: 5984,
  }
};
exports.production = {
  port: 80,
  couchDb: {
    db: 'comments',
    host: 'localhost',
    port: 5984,
  }
};

// bin/server.js
var environment = "development" 
if(process.env["NODE_ENV"]){ 
  environment = process.env["NODE_ENV"] 
}
var
  config = require('config/default'),
  db =
    require('dep/node-couchdb')
    .createClient(config[environment].couchDb.port, config[environment].couchDb.host)
    .db(config[environment].couchDb.db);