diff --git a/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/PropertiesSettingsLoader.java b/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/PropertiesSettingsLoader.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2fac5bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/PropertiesSettingsLoader.java
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package org.xbib.content.settings;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.StringReader;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Properties;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+/**
+ * Settings loader that loads (parses) the settings in a properties format.
+ */
+public class PropertiesSettingsLoader implements SettingsLoader {
+
+    private static final Set<String> PROPERTIES_SUFFIXES = new HashSet<>(Collections.singletonList("properties"));
+
+    @Override
+    public Set<String> suffixes() {
+        return PROPERTIES_SUFFIXES;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Map<String, String> load(String source) throws IOException {
+        Properties props = new Properties();
+        try (StringReader reader = new StringReader(source)) {
+            props.load(reader);
+            Map<String, String> result = new HashMap<>();
+            for (Map.Entry<Object, Object> entry : props.entrySet()) {
+                result.put((String) entry.getKey(), (String) entry.getValue());
+            }
+            return result;
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean canLoad(String source) {
+        return true;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/Settings.java b/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/Settings.java
index bebbead..d477a71 100644
--- a/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/Settings.java
+++ b/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/Settings.java
@@ -43,11 +43,7 @@ public class Settings {
     public static final int BUFFER_SIZE = 1024 * 8;
     private final Map<String, String> settings;
 
-    public Settings() {
-        this(new HashMap<>());
-    }
-
-    public Settings(Map<String, String> settings) {
+    private Settings(Map<String, String> settings) {
         this.settings = new HashMap<>(settings);
     }
 
@@ -666,6 +662,27 @@ public class Settings {
             return this;
         }
 
+        /**
+         * Load system properties to this settings.
+         * @return builder
+         */
+        public Builder loadFromSystemProperties() {
+            for (Map.Entry<Object, Object> entry : System.getProperties().entrySet()) {
+                put((String)entry.getKey(), (String)entry.getValue());
+            }
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Load system environment to this settings.
+         * @return builder
+         */
+        public Builder loadFromSystemEnvironment() {
+            for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : System.getenv().entrySet()) {
+                put(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
+            }
+            return this;
+        }
         /**
          * Runs across all the settings set on this builder and replaces <tt>${...}</tt> elements in the
          * each setting value according to the following logic:
@@ -679,14 +696,17 @@ public class Settings {
         public Builder replacePropertyPlaceholders() {
             PropertyPlaceholder propertyPlaceholder = new PropertyPlaceholder("${", "}", false);
             PropertyPlaceholder.PlaceholderResolver placeholderResolver = placeholderName -> {
+                // system property
                 String value = System.getProperty(placeholderName);
                 if (value != null) {
                     return value;
                 }
+                // environment
                 value = System.getenv(placeholderName);
                 if (value != null) {
                     return value;
                 }
+                // current date
                 try {
                     return DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern(placeholderName).format(LocalDate.now());
                 } catch (IllegalArgumentException | DateTimeException e) {
diff --git a/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/SettingsLoader.java b/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/SettingsLoader.java
index bfe8eda..210885c 100644
--- a/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/SettingsLoader.java
+++ b/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/SettingsLoader.java
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ import java.util.Set;
  */
 public interface SettingsLoader {
 
+    /**
+     * Suffices for file names to load from.
+     * @return a set of suffices
+     */
     Set<String> suffixes();
 
     /**
diff --git a/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/SettingsLoaderService.java b/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/SettingsLoaderService.java
index 03c7927..60c4208 100644
--- a/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/SettingsLoaderService.java
+++ b/content-core/src/main/java/org/xbib/content/settings/SettingsLoaderService.java
@@ -16,9 +16,10 @@ public final class SettingsLoaderService {
 
     private static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(SettingsLoaderService.class.getName());
 
-    private static final Map<Set<String>, SettingsLoader> settingsLoaderMap = new HashMap<>();
+    private static final Map<Set<String>, SettingsLoader> settingsLoaderMap;
 
-    private SettingsLoaderService() {
+    static {
+        settingsLoaderMap = new HashMap<>();
         try {
             ServiceLoader<SettingsLoader> serviceLoader = ServiceLoader.load(SettingsLoader.class);
             for (SettingsLoader settingsLoader : serviceLoader) {
@@ -30,6 +31,10 @@ public final class SettingsLoaderService {
             logger.log(Level.SEVERE, e.getMessage(), e);
         }
     }
+
+    private SettingsLoaderService() {
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns a {@link SettingsLoader} based on the resource name.
      * @param resourceName the resource
diff --git a/content-core/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/org.xbib.content.settings.SettingsLoader b/content-core/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/org.xbib.content.settings.SettingsLoader
index 4d22e56..bda82af 100644
--- a/content-core/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/org.xbib.content.settings.SettingsLoader
+++ b/content-core/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/org.xbib.content.settings.SettingsLoader
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-org.xbib.content.json.JsonSettingsLoader
\ No newline at end of file
+org.xbib.content.json.JsonSettingsLoader
+org.xbib.content.settings.PropertiesSettingsLoader
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/content-core/src/test/java/org/xbib/content/settings/SettingsTest.java b/content-core/src/test/java/org/xbib/content/settings/SettingsTest.java
index a354c56..0c9b42f 100644
--- a/content-core/src/test/java/org/xbib/content/settings/SettingsTest.java
+++ b/content-core/src/test/java/org/xbib/content/settings/SettingsTest.java
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 package org.xbib.content.settings;
 
-import static org.xbib.content.settings.Settings.settingsBuilder;
 
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.xbib.content.XContentHelper;
 
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.StringReader;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -16,6 +17,12 @@ import java.util.Map;
  */
 public class SettingsTest extends Assert {
 
+    @Test
+    public void testEmpty() {
+        Settings settings = Settings.EMPTY_SETTINGS;
+        assertTrue(settings.getAsMap().isEmpty());
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testArray() {
         Settings settings = Settings.settingsBuilder()
@@ -51,7 +58,7 @@ public class SettingsTest extends Assert {
         map.put("hello", "world");
         Map<String, Object> settingsMap = new HashMap<>();
         settingsMap.put("map", map);
-        Settings settings = settingsBuilder().loadFromMap(settingsMap).build();
+        Settings settings = Settings.settingsBuilder().loadFromMap(settingsMap).build();
         assertEquals("{map.hello=world}", settings.getAsMap().toString());
     }
 
@@ -59,7 +66,7 @@ public class SettingsTest extends Assert {
     public void testMapSettingsFromReader() {
         StringReader reader = new StringReader("{\"map\":{\"hello\":\"world\"}}");
         Map<String, Object> spec = XContentHelper.convertFromJsonToMap(reader);
-        Settings settings = settingsBuilder().loadFromMap(spec).build();
+        Settings settings = Settings.settingsBuilder().loadFromMap(spec).build();
         assertEquals("{map.hello=world}", settings.getAsMap().toString());
     }
 
@@ -72,4 +79,27 @@ public class SettingsTest extends Assert {
         assertTrue(Integer.parseInt(settings.get("date")) > 2000);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testSystemEnvironment() {
+        Settings settings = Settings.settingsBuilder()
+                .loadFromSystemEnvironment()
+                .build();
+        assertTrue(!settings.getAsMap().isEmpty());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testSystemProperties() {
+        Settings settings = Settings.settingsBuilder()
+                .loadFromSystemProperties()
+                .build();
+        assertTrue(!settings.getAsMap().isEmpty());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testPropertiesLoader() {
+        Settings settings = Settings.settingsBuilder()
+                .loadFromStream(".properties", new ByteArrayInputStream("a.b=c".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)))
+                .build();
+        assertEquals("{a.b=c}", settings.getAsMap().toString());
+    }
 }
diff --git a/content-xml/src/test/java/org/xbib/content/xml/XContentXmlBuilderTest.java b/content-xml/src/test/java/org/xbib/content/xml/XContentXmlBuilderTest.java
index 78b57ea..28653cf 100644
--- a/content-xml/src/test/java/org/xbib/content/xml/XContentXmlBuilderTest.java
+++ b/content-xml/src/test/java/org/xbib/content/xml/XContentXmlBuilderTest.java
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ public class XContentXmlBuilderTest extends Assert {
         QName root = new QName("root");
         XContentBuilder builder = XmlXContent.contentBuilder(new XmlXParams(root));
         builder.startObject().field("Hello", "World\u001b").endObject();
-        assertEquals("<root><Hello>World�</Hello></root>", builder.string());
+        assertEquals("<root><Hello>World\ufffd</Hello></root>", builder.string());
     }
 
     @Test
diff --git a/content-xml/src/test/java/org/xbib/content/xml/util/XMLUtilTest.java b/content-xml/src/test/java/org/xbib/content/xml/util/XMLUtilTest.java
index fb4d331..84ba2be 100644
--- a/content-xml/src/test/java/org/xbib/content/xml/util/XMLUtilTest.java
+++ b/content-xml/src/test/java/org/xbib/content/xml/util/XMLUtilTest.java
@@ -17,6 +17,6 @@ public class XMLUtilTest extends Assert {
     @Test
     public void testWhitespaceCleanerWithReplacementCharacter() {
         String s = "Hello World\u001b";
-        assertEquals(XMLUtil.sanitizeXml10(s), "Hello World�");
+        assertEquals("Hello World\ufffd", XMLUtil.sanitizeXml10(s));
     }
 }
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index 5b041cc..e26553b 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 group = org.xbib
-version = 1.0.0
+version = 1.0.1
 org.gradle.daemon = true