A comprehensive study devoted to determine linear thermal bridges transmittance in existing buildings

•FEM simulations of different construction joints for the wall-foundations-ground node.•Regression equations for all the configurations to evaluate linear transmittance.•Correlations to evaluate the ground-contact thermal bridges in existing buildings.•Tests for more than 1000 practical cases confirmed accuracy of proposed correlations. The issue of transmittance of thermal bridges in existing buildings has been addressed aiming to achieve correlations able to evaluate the ground-contact thermal bridges. A bi-dimensional steady state FEM model has been implemented to simulate wall-to-floor structural node and then validated in accordance with the EN ISO 10211:2017 standard. Different construction joints have been then simulated for the structural node foundations-vertical elements up to a total of 19 configurations, from which 1700 cases have been derived varying walls and floor stratigraphies and ground properties. Correlations for the linear thermal bridge transmittance have been calculated through regression technique for all the configurations, together with their validity ranges expressed in terms of 95% confidence interval values. Tests performed for more than 1000 practical cases confirmed the accuracy of the proposed correlations. Through those correlations ground contact thermal bridges in existing buildings can be hence analyzed in a simple and operative way, offering technicians in the sector a tool that covers most of the possible situations.