A high demand for heating energy in winter, overheating in summer and visual discomfort are important issues in school buildings in the cold climate of China. This study presents the use of simulation–optimization tools to find the optimal trade-off between minimizing energy use for heating and lighting, reducing summer discomfort time and maximizing the Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI_avg, between 100 and 2000 lx). Different spatial configurations were investigated, including a single-sided open corridor type, a single-sided enclosed corridor type and a double-sided corridor type school. The following passive design parameters were considered in the optimization analysis: orientation, room depth and corridor depth, window-to-wall ratio of different interfaces, glazing materials and shading types. The results of the optimization study show that the energy demand for heating and lighting can be reduced by 24–28% and summer thermal discomfort by 9–23% while the UDI_avg (100–2000 lx) can simultaneously increase by 15–63%. Considering all three aspects, the double-sided enclosed corridor type performs best due to its energy performance while the one-sided enclosed corridor type is the least suitable for the cold climate because of its relatively poor visual comfort quality. In addition, the passive design parameters should be carefully considered as each spatial configuration has its own optimal passive design parameters.