posted 5 years ago
What are your aims and hopes for this greenhouse? If you want it to stay as warm as possible on its own heat from the sun, then EW orientation is pretty essential, especially as you are in Canada. If you are planning to provide a heat source then NS orientation, as you say, could probably provide enough light for the plants. Or if you don't mind it going far below freezing in winter, and only want to use it in spring, it might be fine.
NS orientation may also have worse overheating problems from April to Sept, too, so major active ventilation may be necessary. This is because in those months, the sun rises north of east and sets north of west, and spends hours shining on the east side of things in the morning, and, worse, on the west side in the afternoon when things are already pretty hot. So plants can get cooked. In winter, the sun rises south of east and sets south of west, and doesn't spend much time shining on the east and west walls, so those walls are mostly heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer.
Works at a residential alternative high school in the Himalayas SECMOL.org . "Back home" is Cape Cod, E Coast USA.