Often the 3Es of sustainability are depicted as three equal, interlocking circles.

Daly reorders the elements and uses a triangle to describe their relationship to each other. He uses the term "Ultimate Means" to refer to the Environment and places it at the foundation of the triangle. He uses the term "Ultimate Ends" to refer to Equity in terms of human well being and places it at the apex of the triangle. In the middle he places "Intermediate Means or Ends" to refer to the Economy, along which he includes technology, politics and ethics as these, too, translate "means" to "ends."

(Note: Some may argue that the "Ultimate Ends" should not be confined to equity and well being for humans alone, but should be applied to all species. However one chooses to define "Ultimate Ends," the relationship between the elements remains the same.)

Daly's Triangle emphasizes that the natural environment is the precondition for human life. It implies that the current threats to our natural capital inevitably jeopardize our desires for a good quality of life shared by all.

This framework illustrates that the economy is not an end onto itself, but serves as a vehicle for achieving ultimate ends. The economy succeeds to the extent that it conserves and restores ultimate means (the environment), and enables us to achieve ultimate ends (well-being).

In this way, Daly's Triangle offers a context for other sustainability tools. For example, two key conceptual tools, the Ecological Footprint, and The Natural Step are concerned with protecting and measuring the environment or ultimate means part of the Triangle. Likely, the environment dominates current sustainability thinking because it is the precondition for human life, and the least understood and respected part