The optimal design of building daylighting performance in cold regions is helpful to improve the quality of indoor daylight environment. In recent years, scholars have explored the optimal design of building daylighting performance based on computer simulation and parametric simulation method. The existing researches are mostly based on simulation tools, through the daylighting simulation results of a specific viewpoint in the building space, to carry out the optimal design of daylighting performance. However, there are few researches on the complex building space and the space with multiple glare sources. In the face of the increasingly complex space form of buildings in cold regions, the limitations of existing simulation design methods for daylighting performance, such as insufficient consideration of complex space and long simulation time, are increasingly prominent. It is difficult for designers to accurately judge the daylighting conditions of indoor multi-directional complex daylight sources through a single viewpoint simulation analysis. Although the daylighting analysis tool based on Radiance has a high calculation accuracy, Monte Carlo random sampling and reverse ray tracing algorithm take a long time to calculate, which limit the daylighting design efficiency in the scheme design stage. Faced with the daylighting performance simulation and optimal design requirements during the design phase of the building scheme, a method for optimal design of building daylighting performance in cold regions based on progressive tracking technology was proposed. This method can not only ensure the accuracy of graphics rendering simulation, but also realize the multi perspective and multi-directional daylighting simulation of complex building space, and improve the designer’s ability to analyze the daylight environment performance of complex building space. In this paper, a multi-storey complex building space in a cold region is taken as an example to develop the practical application of the optimal design method of daylighting performance. The optimal design process of building daylighting performance based on progressive tracking technology includes four steps: information modeling of sky environment in cold regions, parametric modeling of building information, design of daylighting performance simulation scheme, feedback of simulation results and optimal design. This study takes a multi-storey building space in Harbin as an example (45.75°N, 126.64°E). The south side of the building is close to the playground, and the north side is close to the city main road. The terrain around the building is relatively flat, and there is no high building shelter. Firstly, based on the sky meteorological data of Harbin, it constructs the information model of sky environment in cold regions. Secondly, it constructs parametric modeling based on the spatial information such as doors, windows and walls, and the physical properties of material interface. Thirdly, according to the requirements of the actual project, the simulation scheme of daylighting performance is developed based on the AcceleradRT platform. Finally, it obtains the feedback of simulation results of daylighting performance, and according to the feedback results, it proposes the methods of optimizing the indoor daylighting design. In the process of optimal daylighting performance of buildings in cold regions, the designer simulated the indoor daylighting condition of the office area at 2:00 p.m. on June 21st and obtained the pseudo color pictures of 27 main observation angles. During the camera position and observation direction moving, the designer can find the influence of multi glare daylight source from multiple perspectives and dimensions, and judge the glare prone area. The daylighting performance in most areas of the practice cases is good, which meets the needs of indoor illumination. However, the illumination and the probability of glare is relatively high. Therefore, in the process of daylighting optimal performance design, sunshade facilities should be added at the window with strong incident daylight. After adding shading facilities, the luminance and the probability of glare near the window are obviously reduced; however, the overall natural daylighting level of the office space is reduced at the same time. The study also compared the DGP values obtained from the daylighting simulation. The DGP values are mainly concentrated in the range of 20%~35%, indicating that the glare risk control is relatively good, but visual discomfort still exists in some areas. The probability of perceiving glare is obviously reduced after adding external shading facilities. With the development of the society and the demand of engineering practice, the optimal design method and technology development of daylighting in cold regions based on progressive tracking technology are promoted, which provides strong support for the daylighting design of complex space in cold areas. The results show that the optimal design of building daylighting performance in cold regions can dynamically analyze and feedback the spatial daylighting performance of complex building space, significantly reduce the time-consuming of optimal daylighting performance, improve the precision and efficiency of optimal design of building daylighting performance in cold regions, and provide technical support for building daylighting design in cold regions.