Systems and methods for refrigerant leak management

An air handling system of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system configured to manage airflow with respect to a conditioned interior space of a building, comprising:

• a return inlet having a return inlet assembly;
• a purge exhaust outlet having a purge exhaust outlet assembly;
• a sensor configured to detect refrigerant proximate an air handling enclosure;
• a reversible supply fan configured to draw air from the conditioned interior space of the building when operating in a reverse direction;
• and
• a controller configured to control the air handling system to purge the air into an external environment by operating the reversible supply fan in the reverse direction while the return inlet assembly is closed and the purge exhaust outlet assembly is open, in response to the sensor detecting the refrigerant proximate the air handling enclosure.

A method of operating a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system that provides a conditioned interior space of a building, comprising:

• in response to detecting, via a sensor, refrigerant proximate an air handling enclosure of the HVAC system:
• activating a reversible supply fan of the HVAC system in a reverse direction to draw a flow of air from the conditioned interior space of the building;
• closing a return inlet assembly disposed at a return inlet of the air handling enclosure to impede the flow of air from returning to the conditioned interior space of the building;
• and
• opening a purge exhaust outlet assembly disposed at a purge exhaust outlet of the air handling enclosure to guide the flow of air to enter an external environment.