Building envelopes can highly impact the building energy demand and indoor environmental quality, so that the application of novel façade systems such as photovoltaics has been widely investigated. However, few study has addressed the interactive effect between photovoltaic (PV) application and traditional passive architectural design strategies, which is thoroughly discussed in this comparative study using a holistic design optimization process. The holistic design optimization approach combines screeningbased and variance-based sensitivity analyses with the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II) and hybrid generalized pattern search particle swarm optimization (HGPSPSO). The impact of the light-to-solar gain ratio (LSG) is evaluated as one of the key factor to combine the passive design and PV glazing based on a comprehensive glazing database. Through an exhaustive sensitivity analysis (SA), the Morris method is proved to be efficient and robust in factor prioritizing only when the required minimum sampling size is satisfied. The window to ground ratio showed much greater impact on the net building energy demand when PV applications are coupled with all available vertical façades. Furthermore, the necessary particles for specified design input dimensions are determined for the optimal performance of HGPSPSO. With the optimum design configuration, the net building demand can be reduced by up to 71.36% under the hot summer and warm winter condition of Hong Kong. Research findings from this study can be used to develop low-energy building guidelines and building integrated PV applications in early planning stages.
