COLUMBUS, OH—Negotiators on the Building C Thermostat Committee announced Thursday that talks have entered their third year. They described the year's progress as "a shared understanding that it is, in fact, cold."

"We have not agreed on a number, a schedule, or who is allowed to touch the panel," said committee chair Linda Faraday. "But every party at the table now accepts that conditions are cold. Two years ago that was not a given."

The committee was formed after an incident involving a space heater and the fourth-floor accounting team. It has met 61 times. A 2025 proposal to set the building at 71 degrees stalled after facilities pointed out that the thermostat is a decoy wired to nothing.

"It has always been a decoy," said facilities coordinator Ray Dunleavy. "The real one is in a locked closet in Cincinnati."

The committee voted 9–2 to keep negotiating with the decoy, citing "momentum."

Members say a working group on sweaters is expected to report next spring. A separate subcommittee is still studying whether the window by the copier opens.

At press time, the committee had paused talks for its scheduled break, which members spent standing near the microwave for warmth.